Non Site Specific Service
What is the Non Site Specific Service?
The Non Site Specific (NSS) Service is for people who have symptoms that are worrying and could be a cancer but are not typical of a specific cancer type. Some forms of cancer show very specific symptoms and it is clear when to refer to specific teams such as the head and neck team or breast cancer team. However, sometime things like weight loss or fatigue and vomiting cannot always be explained, especially if they are lasting for a few months.
For a person referred to NSS there will be a number of tests undertaken e.g., blood tests, FIT, x-ray. A full history of your symptoms will be taken during a consultation with oe of our clinical team before booking you in for further diagnostic investigations, e.g., CT scan, endoscopy.
When will I know the outcome of all the tests?
The National Health Service England (NHSE) recommend that someone knows whether their symptoms are because of a cancer or not within 28 days of being referred to the hospital.
You may not know your treatment plan within 28 days but you will know if you have or haven’t got a cancer.
Following all your tests if it is a cancer you will be referred straight away to the specialist team. In some cases, there is no explanation for the patient’s symptoms and in such cases we would refer back to GP or make suggestions to GP.
What benefits does the non site specific service provide?
We want to rule out that ‘vague’ symptoms are an early cancer that isn’t picked up until it is advanced and our team aims to do that.
Where we can, we do all your test on the same day. Sometimes this is not always possible and the majority of patients require additional bloods, scans and or endoscopies which are often on different days.
Someone will navigate you through all your test and keep you informed of what is happening.
This short video provides the background to non site specific services and how the NHS is moving towards rapid diagnosis for cancer referrals.
Having tests and investigations at the hospital often make people feel quite nervous and not knowing what to expect can add to the worry.
We are creating a series of videos to demonstrate certain tests and scans, to give you a picture of what will happen, with the aim of reducing some of that worry.
The Non Site Specific Team
Programme Manager - Lucy Beckingham
Consultant Haematologist - Sylvia Feyler
Lead GP - Madhuri Navuluri
Specialist Nurse - Ursula Johnson
Cancer Care Co-ordinator - Sam Foster
Pathway Navigator - Lisa Townrow
