What is the Cancer Navigation Hub?
The Cancer Navigation Hub is a telephone based service answering calls from patients and healthcare professionals covering all cancer related enquiries. The team is made up of Cancer Pathway Navigators who are responsible for signposting service users to the appropriate healthcare area using their knowledge base of cancer pathways and working together with the many services across NHS Lothian and external partners, like Macmillan’s Improving the Cancer Journey and Maggie’s.
Who is it for?
This service is for anyone diagnosed with cancer, family members, carers or healthcare professionals in NHS Lothian.
When is it available?
The Cancer Navigation Hub will be open for inbound calls Monday-Friday 9am-4pm (closed on public holidays). Information on appropriate out-of-hours services is available on a pre-recorded message.
What help does it offer?
The Cancer Navigation Hub has been designed to help service users to navigate their way through, what can often be, complex cancer pathways. Calls will be directed to the most appropriate care team(s) including the cancer treatment helpline, clinical nurse specialist teams, treatment day units, and will act as a link to introduce patients to external agencies such as Macmillan (Improving the Cancer Journey) and Maggie’s for non-health related cancer support.
Cancer Pathway Coordinators are trained to help patients with a variety of enquiries such as checking and rearranging appointments, scheduling of treatments, transport enquiries, and accessing interpretation and translation services.
M.A & K.S., J.W. 12-02-26
Who is it for?
This service is for anyone diagnosed with the cancer, family members, carers or healthcare professionals in NHS Lothian.
How do you access?
The Cancer Navigation Hub can be accessed by calling 0300 123 1600 (Monday – Friday 9am-4pm* closed on public holidays)
Patients can phone the line directly, no referral needed.
* Closed on public holidays
All patients on or within six weeks of treatment should be encouraged to monitor symptoms and call The Cancer Treatment Helpline (CTH; 08009177711) with any treatment-related concerns. Please note, the CTH is a call operator service provided by NHS 24, who then refer on to an acute care specialist. They cannot give specialist advice.
If the patient has been assessed by a healthcare practitioner in Primary Care, and Oncology advice/input is felt to be required, the Primary Care clinician should call the Acute Oncology team at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre (based in the WGH) and discuss directly. The Acute Oncology team can be contacted during working hours (Mon-Fri 9-5) on 07798774842; If out of hours, please discuss with the Oncology Registrar On-Call via NHS Lothian Switchboard (0131 537 1000).
If the primary care clinician requires any further guidance on the suitability of referral to Acute Oncology, they can consult Pg 10 of the The UKONS Oncology/Haematology 24 Hour Triage Toolkit.Note if a patient has presented to primary care for assessment, the patient should NOT be advised to call the CTH themselves to pass on this information or seek further advice.
