Head and Neck cancer services

Submitting your referral 

Referrals need to be made by a clinician, usually a GP or dentist.  

GPs should complete the Pan-London Urgent Suspected Cancer form in full, using the current version. Current versions are found here: NHS England — London » Urgent Cancer Referrals. They should then upload the referral via eRS.nhs.uk. If possible, please also include a clinical photo.  

For dentists, there is a separate referral form found here: Urgent-Suspected-Head-and-Neck-Cancer-Referral-Form-Dental. Urgent suspected cancer referrals should be emailed to huh-tr.Cancerreferrals@nhs.net, along with clinical photos of the lesion. Please use this referral pathway for any suspicious neck lumps that you see for patients. You can refer directly to us rather than referring your patient back to their GP to make a referral.  

For routine Oral Maxillofacial referral pathways, please check here: Oral maxillo-facial, head and neck surgery.  

Triage Stage 

Our Head and Neck cancer referrals are triaged by a clinical nurse specialist who will request necessary investigations. Referrers using e-RS (i.e. GPs) will not be able to directly book appointments from this platform. Please select the ‘2ww Head & Neck RAS’. We will vet referrals, then book your patient into the correct specialty.  

When meeting with the patient, please ensure they are available over the next two weeks or refer them when they become available.  

We contact most patients by phone before their first face-to-face appointment. 

Additional Referral Guidance 

For referrals to our oral maxillofacial specialty, we deliver a One Stop Oral Biopsy clinic. This helps us prioritise urgent cases more quickly. It also helps us to rule out cancer in good time for benign lesions. We strongly encourage referrers to attach clinical photos of lesions with your referral documents to speed the vetting and diagnostic pathway. Please inform your patients to be prepared for possible same day biopsy under local anaesthetic.  

For thyroid referrals, please consider arranging a recent vitamin D test and thyroid lump test such as the Thyroid Function Test (TFT) and Thyroid Peroxidase (TPO) concurrent to this referral. For endocrinology conditions, please refer to our Endocrinology service using e-RS. 

The Homerton Cancer Referral Toolkit is for clinicians working in the NHS. It can be accessed by people with an NHS.net email address. This gives more detailed information for referrers to support your conversations with patients about what to expect at their appointments. 

More about tests 

If you are asked to come in for an appointment in our outpatient clinic, this will take around two hours. A one stop clinic means we will try to carry out all the tests you need in one hospital visit. You may need to have one or more of these tests:

• flexible nasal endoscopy - a tiny camera looks up your nose or at the back of the throat
• radiology scans, e.g.:
  • MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) - a scan that produces images of the body, using a large magnet and radio waves. This gives detailed images of almost every internal structure in the human body, including the organs, bones, muscles and blood vessels
  • CT scan - uses x-rays to takes images at different angles. This is more detailed than a normal x-ray
  • ultrasound - uses sound waves to build up a picture of inside the body. We often use this to check neck lumps
• biopsy - we take a small sample of tissue under local anaesthetic for testing. (Local anaesthetic numbs the area of body where the tissue is taken, so you won’t feel pain there. It is not a general anaesthetic, where patients are put to sleep). 

You can read more about these tests here: Head and neck cancer tests | Macmillan Cancer Support 

Remember - most patients referred this way do NOT have cancer. But it is important that we check you quickly so you can get the best care, if needed. Please try and attend all your appointments. If you can’t attend an urgent suspected cancer appointment, let the Cancer Referrals Office know as soon as possible on 020 8510 5099.

Clinical Nurse Specialist (‘key worker’) 

The Head and Neck Clinical Nurse Specialist run different clinics throughout the week. They act as your key worker. This means they are your point of contact and support while you are under the care of the team. 

 The Head and Neck Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist can offer:

• advice on treatment options
• information on any investigations
• referral to another team member

Phone (ENT):  020 8510 5206 (ENT medical Secretary)
Phone (OMF): 020 8510 5209 

Email (ENT): huh-tr.entmedsec@nhs.net 
Email (OMF): huh-tr.maxfacs@nhs.net 

Available: Mondays - Fridays, 9am-5pm 

If you unable to contact the Clinical Nurse Specialist, you can also contact the Macmillan Cancer Pathway Navigator. The Navigator supports the nurses in their day-to-day activities. As they are not medically qualified, they are unable to give medical advice.   

Telephone: 020 8510 8969