Reviewed on : 12 Oct 2026

Reviewed by : Jack Bambrough – GP Gateway Editor

Expires : 12 Oct 2028

Urgent Suspected Cancer Referrals

Does your patient meet the NICE NG12 criteria for a suspected cancer?

YES: complete appropriate urgent suspected cancer referral and safety net patient to ensure they attend appropriate appointments.

Is this a 2 week wait?

YES, but the name has changed. The NHS England requirement for trusts to offer an appointment within two weeks has been replaced by a target to achieve a diagnosis with 28 days.

It is recommended that electronic safety netting tools are used. These are built into EMIS or you can use the safety netting template within Primary Care IT software.

To complete an Urgent Suspected Cancer referral use the forms listed for relevant speciality

Subject specific information and guidance can be found on the individual tumour site pages .

Key Points for a Good Urgent Suspected Cancer Referral

• Referral includes all patient demographics and check the patients’ contact details are current and correct
• Your opinion is important. Within your clinical narrative summarise your reason for referral, examination findings and any significant test results. Communicate with consultants in the manner in which you would expect communication from the hospital. A succinct summary is more useful than a copy of a consultation.
• Any relevant clinical information that may affect suitability for investigations and further management in secondary care including for example:
  • Performance status and mobility
  • Capacity to consent
  • Need for translator
  • Reasonable adjustments
• Renal function within last 3 months to allow contrast CT scanning.
• Inform patients that they are on an urgent cancer pathway and provide patient information leaflet or link to Cancer Research UK

Always Inform Patients they are on an Urgent Suspected Cancer Pathway

• A patient is less likely to DNA their appointment if aware it is an urgent cancer pathway
• Reassure patient by sharing PPV that unlikely outcome is cancer, but it is a possibility
• Health care professional & patient relationships can be damaged if patient is sent on a referral without full disclosure
• Patient can be fully informed and prepare for the appointment with their questions and can arrange to take someone to support them

Further information:

Safety netting | Cancer Research UK

Safety Netting: Macmillan

NG 12 Guidelines: Overview | Suspected cancer: recognition and referral | Guidance | NICE

Cancer Decision Tools:

These clinical risk assessors can help with decision making.

Cancer Maps MindMaps (gatewayc.org.uk)

Q Cancer

Please issue the patient a Cancer Research UK Information Sheet – follow link or a Cancer Research UK Patient Leaflets – follow link to order wallet size version direct from Cancer Research

An A4 printable version collated into 3 pages is available here

Further Referral Support – Gateway C Courses

For further support with improving cancer referrals follow Gateway C link Improving the Quality of Your Referral – GatewayC