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Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development (ACCEND) Framework

Career Pathway, Core Cancer Capabilities in Practice and Education Framework

This Career Pathway, Core Cancer Capabilities in Practice and Education Framework for the Nursing and Allied Health Professions Workforce (the ‘Framework’) has been developed as part of a UK wide programme called the Aspirant Cancer Career and Education Development programme (ACCEND).  The ACCEND programme aims to provide transformational reform for the career pathways and associated education, training, learning and development opportunities for the workforce providing care to people affected by cancer.

Purpose of the Framework

To support the development of the workforce providing care to people affected by cancer by providing guidance on:

  • routes to working and career progression in cancer care
  • the core cancer related knowledge and capabilities in practice for pre-registration nursing and allied health professions providing general cancer care and specialist services/roles across the UK nations
  • the range of learning, development, training and education opportunities to meet the requirements and aspirations of the cancer workforce
  • enabling and supporting employers and systems to deliver high quality services to people affected by cancer by supporting workforce transformation

Structure of the Framework

The framework is made up of three components, a career pathway component, a core cancer-specific capabilities in practice component and an education framework component. Combined, these components support practitioners at all levels of the career pathway to develop the core knowledge, skills and behaviours to care for people affected by cancer.

Previous work

Prior to ACCEnD, Skills for Health undertook research to understand the landscape for the specialist cancer care nursing workforce. The reports are located here:

Click here to download a summary of key findings and recommendations

Click here to download the full research report

Download the Framework

You can find the full version of the framework below, as well as implementation guides to support practitioners, employers, educators and other stakeholders implement and use this Framework.

Download the Framework.