The CDRC Suspected Cancer decision support module is designed to help clinicians identify patients who might have cancer and to make the referral process as simple and efficient as possible.
The system is based on the NICE guidance for Suspected Cancer.
The referral management system is designed specifically for practices in the North East of England but could be adapted for other areas.
Suspected Cancer Referral Template
How to Access
In the lower left hand corner use the search bar, type in ‘Suspected Cancer Referral NENC – CDRC’ and select the following template:
Alternatively, press F12 and search for ‘Suspected Cancer Referral NENC – CDRC’, this will return the aforementioned template.
Suspected Cancer Referral Template
The Home Page provides quick links to specific Cancer Site information and clinical findings. This is arranged in the same manner as the NICE guideline.
Suspected Cancer Referral Cancer Sites
The following cancer sites are covered in the Suspected Cancer module:
- Brain & CNS
- Breast
- Gastrointestinal (Combined)
- Gynaecology
- Haematology
- Head & Neck
- Lower GI
- Lung
- Malignancy of Unknown Origin (MUO)
- Sarcoma
- Serious Non-Specific Symptoms (SNSS)
- Skin
- Thyroid
- Upper GI
- Urology
Each cancer site page includes the following:
- Up-to-date NCA Fast Track Referral Forms (tailored to your region)
- Referral Criteria & Information (based on NICE and tailored to your region)
- Relevant clinical information e.g., blood results visible within the template
- Choose & Book referral link
- Cancer Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) link
- Coding for referral and cancer safety netting
The below screenshot from the Suspected Cancer Referral NENC – CDRC template highlights the information shown:
Making a Referral
Urgent Suspected Cancer Referral Proformas
The Urgent Suspected Cancer (formally Fast Track & 2ww) Referral Proformas are designed to extract all necessary information from the medical record to minimise the time needed to complete the form and maximise the utility of the form for secondary care.
Each Referral Proforma has a similar structure:
- Reason for referral
- Recent consultations, relevant values and codes from the record
- Includes smoking, alcohol consumption, BP, drug abuse codes and codes to indicate the patient is at risk of harming others.
- Medical history, medication and adverse reactions:
- For problem based forms, all active problems and all major inactive problems
- For summary based forms all current and past significant summary entries
- Current repeats (excluding items such as sharps bins, dressings etc.)
- Information about dosette boxes
- Current acute medication
- All adverse reactions
- Patient demographics and key information
- Standard demographics, ethnicity and language
- All information about accessible information requirements e.g., vision and hearing problems, need for a translator
- Safeguarding information about adults and children
- Anaesthetic risk information
Click on the form protection button on the Word toolbar and complete the shaded fields
If you need to amend any of the information in the proforma turn form protection off and make the amendments.