Colorectal Department
The Colorectal Nurse Specialist Team (CNS)
The Colorectal Cancer Nurse Specialist Team consists of three Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialists, three Associate Clinical Nurse Specialists and a Cancer Support Worker.
Macmillan Colorectal Nurse Specialists:
- Nicola Calcutt
- Natasha Orbell
- Lynn Billett
Associate Colorectal Nurse Specialists:
- Vicky Perry
- Eloise Lane
- Emily Fell
Our role is to support you and your family from the point of diagnosis and throughout your treatment. We are here for your emotional support to help you and your family cope with your diagnosis, before, during and after treatment.
We coordinate your care and your appointments and aim to ensure these are within a timely manner. We will provide regular verbal and written information about all aspects of your care as well as clarifying any information treatment plans you have been given and we communicate with other healthcare professionals who may be involved in your care and act as your advocate.
If you have any queries or concerns, please contact us on 01305 253144. We aim to check the messages at least once a day and will return your call.
You can also email us on colorectalcancernurses@dchft.nhs.uk
Please be aware that we do not provide any out of hours emergency service. For any urgent medical issues please contact your GP or out of hours service.
Macmillan Colorectal Cancer Support Worker:
- Maggie Armour
I aim to help patients to access information and education resources to support people in making decisions about aspects of their own care, enabling independence and support self-management.
I work alongside the CNS team acting as a point of contact for patients and their families. I can provide general information and support about cancer and cancer services, make referrals or signpost to other sources of support.
Colorectal Surgeons
There are six colorectal surgeons in the team, all experts in bowel surgery and keyhole surgery. They also carry out bowel investigations so you may meet them in the endoscopy department as well as outpatients.
The consultant colorectal surgeons are:
- Mr Anjay Talwar
- Mr Ben Stubbs
- Mr Chaitanya Mehta
- Mr James Orbell
- Mr Nathan Curtis
- Mr Paul Ng
Oncologists
Oncologists are doctors who specialise in treating patients with cancer. These treatments can include chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The oncologists have clinics at Dorset County Hospital and Poole Hospital.
The consultant oncologists are:
- Dr Amelie Harle
- Dr Ben Masters
- Dr Stephanie Prince
Genetic Testing
Genetic tests can help show if members of certain families have inherited a high risk of colorectal cancer due to inherited cancer syndromes such as Lynch syndrome, also known as Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) or Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP).
Previously only people who had a strong family history or those who were diagnosed with bowel cancer under the age of 50 were tested for Lynch syndrome. However more recently NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) recommends that everyone diagnosed with bowel cancer is tested for this hereditary condition.
NICE estimate that over 300 bowel cancers could be prevented each year from testing everyone for Lynch syndrome.
Please do not hesitate to contact your CNS team if you would like more information or would like to discuss this further.
If you wish to gain further information or support, here are some recommended websites to visit:
www.nice.org.uk (for national guidance and advice)
www.cancermatterswessex.nhs.uk (a local resource for people in Dorset, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight)
As a team we highly recommend and encourage you to watch the video below. This can also be accessed via the Cancer Matters Wessex website and is specifically aimed for those who have recently been newly diagnosed with cancer.