Prevention and diagnosis resources for healthcare professionals

Our Rapid Referral Guidelines are designed to help you identify children, young people and adults with symptoms of suspected cancer. They can help you decide if a referral is:

• non-urgent – requires routine referral or tests
• urgent – required within two weeks
• very urgent – required within 48 hours.

The guidelines are endorsed by NICE and summarise the (NG12) guidelines for suspected cancer. They suggest what to look for in primary care, with referral recommendations and safety netting advice.

The NHS has specific Referral guidelines for Scotland.

Access the guidelines

We have developed modules to support primary care teams to improve the quality of care they provide to people with cancer. The modules will also enable practices and primary care networks to deliver the requirements of the Primary Care Network Specifications and QoF Quality Improvement Projects (in England).

The early diagnosis and screening modules will help you:

• identify patients at risk of cancer
• increase uptake of cancer screening
• improve referral practice.

Download our modules for early diagnosis and cancer screening.

We have also created a mini-series of short videos, featuring CRUK GPs and Macmillan GPs sharing their tips and advice for delivery of the PCN DES specification for early cancer diagnosis. Visit our page: Understanding the early cancer diagnosis PCN DES.

The North Central London Cancer Alliance (formerly UCLH Cancer Collaborative) has developed an electronic toolkit to support GPs with safety netting in cancer-related clinical situations. The toolkit will support GPs to:

• schedule diary reminders in their system
• receive alerts to follow up with patients at a later date
• share important information with patients.

The toolkit can be accessed nationally by any GP practice using EMIS Web.

Access the toolkit and resources

This toolkit is designed to help healthcare professionals working with people affected by cancer. It can help you to identify and respond to signs of domestic abuse affecting patients and carers.

Domestic abuse causes long-lasting physical and mental health harm. It can impact cancer care, treatment, and recovery. Working in cancer, you have a unique window of opportunity to intervene and make a difference.

Download the toolkit

Watch a recording of the toolkit launch, where you will hear from Macmillan CEO Gemma Peters, two lived experience voices and partnership leads from Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse, the University of Bristol, and University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

For any questions or feedback on the project, please contact canceranddomesticabuse@macmillan.org.uk.

We invest in programmes and services to help professionals adopt new and innovative ways to deliver cancer care in the UK. Working in communities and with the NHS, we fund pilots to improve experiences and outcomes for people with cancer. With this knowledge, we have created tools and resources to help you deliver:

• Personalised care for people living with cancer
• Holistic Needs Assessments (and electronic HNAs)
• Quality improvement to existing cancer services.

Find out more about our work

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