Your cancer pathway support guide - information for healthcare professionals
Your cancer pathway support guide was conceived and developed by the North Central London Cancer Alliance. It was co-designed with patients, carers and healthcare professionals, with support from Healthwatch Barnet and advocacy from Macmillan Cancer Support.
What is Your cancer pathway support guide? A comprehensive support guide for people who are referred on a suspected cancer pathway or who have been diagnosed with cancer. It provides key questions and signposts to information for people to ask of their health care team. The questions span the whole cancer pathway so patients can use it at any stage they need or come across it. The guide has been designed for use by patients and/or their carers.
How can the guide be accessed? The guide is available to print out and in digital form. In the digital format a person can type in notes and save these as they go along. It is also possible to print out material.
A printable version of the guide is available also on the website. The whole document can be printed off at any time, and notes can be handwritten. As an alternative, the PDF version can be read on a device.
How can it help? The guide aims to provide information and signposting to emotional and practical support at the right time for patients during and after having tests or treatment for cancer.
It will also help people to know where to get relevant information and what questions to ask healthcare professionals, and to have the information and confidence to make decisions about their treatment and care.
How can you raise awareness of the guide with patients? Your cancer pathway support guide can be found here: https://cancersupportguide.nclcanceralliance.nhs.uk/
GPs can talk about it when referring someone on a two week wait pathway. It could be shared by email or SMS.
We have created a SMS template that can be used in primary care:
Dear X: You have been referred onto a suspected cancer pathway. Here is a resource that may be helpful to you now or later on. It’s a guide to key questions to ask when you are referred for tests to investigate for cancer, or if you have already been diagnosed with cancer. The guide is available in both paper and digital formats.”
https://cancersupportguide.nclcanceralliance.nhs.uk/
SNOMED code: Patient given information (contextual qualifier) (qualifier value)
SCTID: 103313004
