National Cancer CNS Day: celebrating the role of the CNS

The 4th National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Day takes place across the UK on Friday 14 March. As in previous years, this day celebrates the CNS role in cancer care, raises their profile and acknowledges their vital contribution to cancer care across the four nations.

The CNS role in cancer care developed rapidly following the publication of The NHS Cancer Plan in 2000 (Department of Health, 2000). These specialist nursing roles were needed to support the development of tumour-specific pathways.

The responsibilities of the modern CNS are very diverse, encompassing clinical and caseload management, audit, research, education and service development (Kerr et al, 2021). This diversity has sometimes led to an under-appreciation of the importance of the CNS in cancer care, and some ambiguity around their function. Despite this, however, the CNS role can be considered as one of the major successes of UK cancer care and has been increasingly linked with positive patient outcomes and experience. In 2024, Alessy et al found that being directed to a cancer CNS is associated with better care experiences and even improved survival.