Contact us

The Cancer Treatment Helpline (CTH – 0800 9177711) aims to provide a safe, high quality telephone triage. Patients are given a red alert card with their chemotherapy booklet. It is a dedicated 24 hour, 7 days a week line for patients with solid tumours who are experiencing side effects whilst on systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT), Radiotherapy or are within 6 weeks of treatment.

Following triage by the CTH patients will either receive self-care advice, a call back within 24 hours or be escalated to the specialist acute oncology/medical team nearest to their postcode. The specialist team aim to ensure patients receive effective and timely care in the right place with the right healthcare professional.

If contacting the helpline, it would be helpful if the CTH call operator:

• Speaks directly to the patient.
• Is given a current temperature reading.
• Is provided with the date of your last treatment.

The CTH call operator will ask several questions which may seem unrelated to the reason for your call, but these allow them to triage effectively. Depending on the outcome of your phone assessment you will be advised what to do next. If you are advised to attend hospital it is important to remember this will in the first instance, be for further assessment and not necessarily an admission to hospital. Please ensure you have thought in advance how you will get to the hospital. An ambulance may advise if your condition needs monitoring on route otherwise you will be expected to provide your own transport.

You will usually be asked to attend your closest hospital which may not necessarily be the place where you are receiving your cancer treatment. Please note every effort will be taken to see you promptly however you will be prioritised along with other patients according to outcomes from an initial assessment. Information about your attendance there will be shared with the Consultant who is supervising your cancer treatment and their team. If you are on holiday out with your postcode area and are unwell then you should attend your nearest Accident and Emergency department.

The Haematology Emergency Helpline (07972251464) works in a similar way to the Cancer Treatment Helpline, however it is provided by in house Haematology nursing team at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre. This service is 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The Cancer Navigation Hub is here to help you with any enquiry relating to your cancer care. The team can help you with checking and rearranging appointments, scheduling of treatments, transport enquiries, and accessing interpretation and translation services. If needed, enquiries can also be directed to appropriate clinical teams including the Cancer Treatment Helpline, Clinical Nurse Specialist teams, and treatment day units.

We can also introduce you to agencies for non-health related cancer support such as Macmillan, Improving the Cancer Journey, and Maggie’s.

The Cancer Navigation Hub is available Monday-Friday 9am-5pm (closed on most public holidays) and you can contact us by calling 0300 123 1600. If calling outside of these hours, information on appropriate out-of-hours services will be available on a pre-recorded message.

For all Compliments, Concerns & Complaints, please follow the link below to the main NHS Lothian website:

Tell us about your experience (Compliments, concerns and complaints) (nhslothian.scot)

You can also visit the Care Option website below

Care Opinion (external)

For all Freedom of Information requests, please follow the link below to the main NHS Lothian website:

Freedom of Information (FOI) (nhslothian.scot)