Head and Neck Cancers

Referral route 

Urgent suspected cancer (“2ww”) head and neck referrals are managed on e-RS by a ‘Referral Assessment Service (RAS)’. This means appointment bookings cannot be made by the referrer and will ‘defer to provider’. Please refer into ‘2ww Head & Neck RAS.’ We will then triage your referral and book the patient into one of our services:

• 2ww Ear nose and throat (ENT)
• 2ww Oral Maxillo Facial (OMF)
• 2ww Thyroid 

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 suspected oral maxillofacial cancers.   

Dentists who do not have access to e-RS can complete the Pan-London-Urgent-Suspected-Head-and-Neck-Cancer-Referral-Form-Dental-2.docx and email this 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 | Homerton.  

We usually arrange a telephone consultation if: 

Ideally, patients will be invited to have their investigations prior to an outpatient appointment. 

The thyroid clinic mainly runs on Tuesday mornings. For endocrinology conditions, please refer to our Endocrinology Service. 

Possible procedures on typical USC (“2ww”) pathway 

Essential tests prior to referral 

Optional tests (concurrent to referral) or other useful information 

For thyroid referrals, a recent vitamin D test would be helpful. 

Things the hospital or patient need to know 

Any contraindications for MRIs (e.g. pacemakers, aneurism clips etc), claustrophobia, pregnancy, allergy to contrast. Please advise is patient requires an interpreter or has special needs. If patient requires transport, please support patient to book hospital transport. 

For thyroid, if ultrasound or thyroid function test has been done in the last six months, please attach results to the referral 

What the hospital tells the patient in letters 

Phone appointment letters 

We will try our best to call you on time. Please allow one hour from your appointment time for this call. Keep your phone free and nearby you during this time. Do make sure your phone can receive calls from private or withheld numbers. (You can check this with your telephone provider). Try to stay in a quiet place during the call. Your telephone appointment may be with a nurse or a doctor.  

Outpatient appointments 

We try hard to minimise delays in clinic, but you should allow up to 2 hours for your appointment. You may be required to have some tests when you attend the clinic. You may be asked to have tests before your appointment. If so, someone will get in touch with the details. Please make sure you have these tests before your appointment if we ask you to do these.