O’Halloran Consultancy are offering a range of webinars in their “Your Essential Guide to Cancer” series.
Covering explanations of how cancers are staged, how and why cancers metastasise, an introduction to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as some site specific webinars.
Please follow the below link to register:
https://attendee.gototraining.com/37l5q/catalog/8011371953429757952?tz=Europe/London
BAHNON Response to the GIRFT Report
The British Association of Head and Neck Oncology Nurses (BAHNON) is proud to co-badge the GIRFT report and welcomes the acknowledgement of the critical role played by head and neck cancer nurses. We remain firmly committed to improving patient outcomes, promoting high-quality care and supporting effective service delivery across the entire head and neck cancer pathway. Safeguarding the sustainability, clinical value and professional expertise of the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role is fundamental to this effort. In this context, BAHNON Council wishes to clarify its position on two specific recommendations within the report.
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The importance of Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) involvement and support following a diagnosis of head and neck cancer is undisputed. However, given the complexity of the patient pathway, Council recognises that the expectation for a CNS to see every patient at the point of diagnosis is not always realistic or achievable.
This standard was included within the 2004 Improving Outcomes Guidance and has already driven widespread and successful implementation, with approximately 93% of organisations achieving full compliance. Importantly, the value of the CNS role lies in its availability and expertise across the entire patient pathway, rather than at a single point of contact.
Cancer Support Workers play a crucial role in enabling this whole-pathway approach and are increasingly integral to the CNS workforce, making a significant contribution to patient care. BAHNON is therefore reassured that, as a guidance document, the GIRFT report allows local services the flexibility to ensure patients are supported by the right professional, with the right skills, at the right time. Ultimately, we continue to endorse the presence and appropriate utilisation of Cancer Support Workers at the point of delivering bad news.
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The GIRFT report recommends that Surgical Voice Restoration (SVR) services should be Speech and Language Therapy led. Given that the report also acknowledges a high vacancy rate among SLTs, Council considers it neither realistic nor sustainable for SVR clinics to be led by a single profession.
Current service models across many organisations already reflect a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach, with specialist nurses frequently playing a central role in delivering SVR clinics. These nurses utilise extended and advanced altered airway skills to provide safe, timely and expert care that is critical to service resilience and patient outcomes.
Importantly, the GIRFT report functions as a guidance document and allows flexibility in local service delivery. It does not supersede the Improving Outcomes Guidance, which continues to place Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) at the centre of SVR service delivery. This position is further reinforced in the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists’ Laryngectomy Guidelines (2023), which explicitly recognise the valuable contribution of CNS extended skills in this clinical context.
BAHNON is therefore clear that sustainable, high-quality SVR services must be underpinned by collaborative working across professional groups. We aim to engage proactively with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in the hope of developing a shared framework that supports safe, effective and sustainable SVR care delivery.
Looking Ahead
We remain committed to advocating for CNS services and are focusing on several key areas to support this work. These include advanced practice roles, greater autonomy and prescribing responsibilities, CNS-led follow-up and enhanced involvement in complex SVR and airway management.
Mouth Cancer Action with the Oral Health Foundation have published a new report into the impact of Mouth Cancer.
With data and insight from patients spanning over nearly 30 years, this comprehensive report covers patient experience with diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, relationships and aftercare
Don’t Miss Out!!
Free up to date recordings to enhance your knowledge and practice, are available via the BAHNOhow Webinar Series
Just Click on the Links below
Session 1: Understanding Immunotherapy in Head & Neck Cancer
Session 2: Optimising Shoulder Function after Major Head and Neck Surgery
An exciting new job opportunity for a Band 6 CNS in Head, Neck and Thyroid Cancers, and Long Term Altered Airways has come up at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
https://vacancies.royaldevon.nhs.uk/jobs/job/Clinical-Nurse-Specialist-Head-Neck–Thyroid-Cancers/11523
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Job Vacancy: |
Band 6 CNS in Head Neck and Thyroid Cancers and Long Term Altered Airways |
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Application Dates |
16.09.25 – 14.10.25 |
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Location ( If applicable) |
Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Barrack Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 5DW |
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Summary of position |
Band 6: £38,682-£46,580 per annum pro rata This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and motivated individual to become an integral member of a well-established, dynamic and forward thinking Head, Neck & Thyroid Cancer Specialist Nursing Team. The successful candidate will support a seamless pathway of care for patients across the clinical interface; including those with malignancies of the head, neck and thyroid and those who require benign or malignant artificial airway management. The successful candidate will be supported in career progression training and development opportunities utilising the ACCEND framework. |
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Website for further details (if applicable) |
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E mail/telephone contact for more information (if applicable) |
Kelly Kingwell 01392 402 215 k.kingwell@nhs.net |
Organised by the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), the European Head and Neck Society (EHNS) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), this biennial congress offers a unique platform to advance multidisciplinary and multimodal treatment strategies in the field of head and neck oncology.
ICHNO 2026 will feature state-of-the-art lectures, updates from practice-changing trials, real-world evidence sessions, and the latest technological innovations in head and neck cancer care. The programme focus is to bring clinical and academic researchers together, to understand the biology that underpins disease and toxicity, and to apply that understanding to a person centred, individualised approach to treatment.
This international meeting brings together experts in oncology, surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, dieticians, speech and language therapists, nurses, restorative dentists, scientists and related specialties to foster collaboration, dialogue, and innovation that directly impact patient care.
Join us in Seville for three days of scientific excellence and collaborative learning in the fight against head and neck cancers.
Find out more at the ESTRO website
Please see details of International Head and Neck Cancer Conference being held in Cambridge in 2026
Book your tickets now:
Speakers announced so far:-
Please see link for booking attendance at this fantastic study day – this is being offered as a hybrid event.
10% Discount code available – quote BAHNON10
Overview
The day will be aimed at Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and anyone working with head and neck cancer patients. We will explore some of the current non-surgical therapies that patients are offered and each session will include a case study.
Intended Audience
The day will be aimed at Nurses, Allied Health Professionals and anyone working with head and neck cancer patients.
What to expect
Agenda
Available on eventbrite
