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Patient Information & Safety-netting

Checked: 12-09-2023 by Vicky Ryan Next Review: 11-09-2025

BNSSG Understanding Your Urgent Fast Track Referral Patient Information Leaflets

At time of referral please issue the BNSSG Understanding Your Urgent Fast Track Referral patient information leaflet.

To improve accessibility, the leaflet is now available as a webpage on the Healthier Together website. It can be translated into 15 different languages using the language tool in the bottom right corner of the page.

A PDF easy read version is still available.

If you need to print the page, please select the appropriate language using the website’s translation tool before right-clicking and choosing 'Print'.

If you're sharing the link via email or SMS, the recipient can use the language tool on the webpage to translate it. Alternatively, if they have browser translation settings enabled, the page may already appear in their preferred language.

Urgent suspected cancer referral video

BNSSG ICB has worked with system partners to develop a video for patients referred on an urgent suspected cancer pathway. It is hoped this will improve patient experience and support patients to feel able and confident to attend their appointments.

The video is in seven languages and BSL; please consider adding this to the resources you give to patients when referring alongside the patient information leaflet.

A shortened version, suitable for sending via AccuRx is also available:

https://orlo.uk/fast-track-referrals_nXrpC

Suspected Cancer - Safety-netting

Safety netting ensures patients undergoing investigations for cancer, or presenting with symptoms that may indicate serious disease, are followed up in a timely and appropriate manner.

The term 'safety netting' includes a wide range of actions and procedures. These may involve actions at an individual GP-patient consultation level and procedures implemented at a practice level.

Safety netting is particularly important for suspected cancer, where symptoms are common and often non-specific.

The following links provider further information and resources on this:

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/diagnosis/suspected-cancer-referral-best-practice/safety-netting#Safety_netting7

https://support-ew.ardens.org.uk/support/solutions/articles/31000157248-fast-track-safety-netting-tools

Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.