Amerdeep Davis

What is your current role?

I work in the Beacon Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, providing cancer care as a Palliative Specialist Radiographer.

Since being in post, I have worked on my clinical portfolio and extended my scope of practice. I can consent patients for palliative radiotherapy for bony metastasis and am currently working on a virtual simulation portfolio that will be supported by a full advanced practice master’s qualification through Sheffield Hallam University. I support our on-treatment review service, seeing patients with all types of cancers and sites who are undergoing treatment, managing radiation acute side effects and referring accordingly. I also support our treatment team as a band 7 radiographer treating all cancer sites and stages.  

I have started to work on a follow-up clinic that contacts most palliative patients two weeks after radiotherapy. This follow-up clinic is intended to help support patients who may be experiencing side effects from their treatment and to help them manage these. It allows us to collect information in addition to our referral information gathered so that we may audit our palliative service and ensure that our practice is evidence based. Weekly attendance is made to a peer review specific to our department. I am also part way through an advanced practice master’s aimed at specialist roles such as this, with the intention of being accredited by the College of Radiographers (CoR) once completed (in 2023).

How did your career reach this stage?

I have more than 10 years of clinical experience in radiotherapy, working in both pre-treatment and treatment as a rotational radiographer. I have worked across three hospitals, supporting many students and newly qualified staff. I have been working as a senior radiographer for more than nine years, expanding my leadership role and skills. Having been rotational between pre-treatment and treatment, I have developed strong clinical skills on how to prepare and treat patients of all sites, especially palliative patients.

In my previous role I also worked on a simulator, using a lot of the skills that are needed in a palliative specialist role, particularly ensuring that the treatment for each patient is safe, accurate and reproducible. I have developed problem-solving skills that have allowed me to flourish in such a role. 

I am passionate about providing high-quality patient care, providing the best possible treatment for each patient that is tailored to their wants and needs. Undertaking my master’s has been key to my development and my plans for my future career progression, particularly as I have been able to tailor the modules to suit this role. I will be completing the physical assessment and clinical reasoning course and the non-medical prescribing course, which will be very useful for a ‘one stop service’ for the palliative radiotherapy pathway. This will allow me to complete the entire pathway for most palliative patients, making the role completely autonomous.

What support has been helpful?

I am currently working alongside a consultant radiographer in palliative radiotherapy and this has been helpful in shaping my role and supporting my in-house competencies as well as my education. Without the consultant radiographer, the wider oncology team could have provided similar help. However, the consultant clinical oncologists (CCOs) have a huge workload so I may not have had the same level of support as when working with the consultant radiographer (CR), particularly since the CCOs see all patients in their site specialty while the CR sees palliative patients, making her the expert in palliative radiotherapy.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

Helping patients through their treatment pathway and beyond. Palliative treatment should not be viewed purely as end of life treatment; it is about helping someone facing a terminal diagnosis to live out the remainder of their life with dignity and comfort. This can sometimes mean supporting the patient’s family and friends as well. Developing my practice through additional education will ensure that all four pillars of advanced practice are met and will allow me to truly be an expert in palliative radiotherapy. Every module I do is to enhance my role; I enjoy learning towards this goal as I know this will unlock further knowledge and skills that I can use to enhance the care that I am able to provide our patients.

Any advice you can give to others interested in this area of work?

I would focus on seeking out further education and development once in the role as this will enable you to build up your experience, knowledge and skills so you can undertake more senior roles. In-house training can be supported with a portfolio and understanding the process of how this is implemented and supported by the department and wider hospital is important.

I would also advise others to seek out support within their department. Working with a consultant radiographer has really helped me in my training, in becoming more autonomous and in developing my role towards becoming an advanced practitioner in palliative care.