How to refer a patient

English NHS patients will need to be referred by a GP for a second opinion or by a clinician in their local hospital (surgeon, gastroenterologist or oncologist). Please note that patients from Wales and Northern Ireland require additional local approval before we can offer an opinion and treatment. Patients from Scotland may require additional approval for certain pathologies.  

The referral should be in the form of a letter. Please include the diagnosis and treatments to date including chemotherapy. Please also provide the supporting information, including:

  • scan reports,
  • operation notes,
  • clinic notes,
  • histopathology, and
  • colonoscopy reports.

We advise this is sent to our email the-christie.cpocreferrals@nhs.net

When we get your referral we'll acknowledge we have received it. Our administrative team will collect all the relevant information to help us give our opinion. For patients referred to us with peritoneal tumours, we have a 'consultant of the week' system to make sure your referral is dealt with promptly.  

Referral guidelines  

We recommend referral for the following:

  • Appendix neoplasms (pre or post appendicectomy) including low grade appendiceal mucinous tumours (LAMN), adenocarcinomas, neuroendocrine tumours (carcinoids), goblet cell carcinoids and MANEC tumours.
  • Patients with suspected pseudomyxoma peritonei on CT scan (with or without biopsy)
  • Patients with suspected pseudomyxoma peritonei at laparotomy

  • Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and Hyperthermic Intra-peritoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC) should be considered in the following scenarios:
  • Colorectal primary in situ with synchronous peritoneal disease/ ovarian metastases.
  • Resected primary with synchronous peritoneal/ ovarian metastases.
  • Resected primary with metachronous peritoneal/ ovarian metastases
  • Low volume resectable liver and/or lung metastases without evidence of active lymphadenopathy

For patients with non resectable extra-peritoneal metastatic disease or nodal disease outside the primary field initial systemic chemotherapy should be considered.

We also accept referral for rare peritoneal tumours.

Please note:  

  • CRS is not indicated if the patient needs urgent surgery for an acute abdomen. In these cases, we are likely to recommend surgery in their local hospital and are happy to discuss cases on an individual basis.
  • Attempting CRS in the form of peritoneal stripping especially in areas such as the diaphragm and pelvis makes subsequent surgery difficult and reduces the chance of achieving complete cytoreduction.
  • Patients who are deemed medically unfit for colorectal resection would not be suitable for CRS and HIPEC. 

If in doubt, please contact the colorectal and peritoneal oncology centre.

Private patients

We accept private patients who will be treated throughThe Christie Private Care.

Last updated: March 2023

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