Summary: Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer 2025
This document contains an overview of the changes made to the Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRG) for Suspected Cancer during the 2025 full clinical review. It is a supporting document for the new Guidelines.
Background
The Scottish Referral Guidelines (SRGs) for Suspected Cancer support healthcare professionals to identify and refer people with symptoms suspicious of cancer. The Guidelines will also help healthcare professionals to identify those who are unlikely to have cancer and may be managed or referred through other pathways.
The SRGs were first published in 2002 and subsequently revised in 2007, 2014 and 2019. In 2023, the Scottish Government commissioned the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) to conduct a full clinical review of the SRGs according to latest international evidence and clinical consensus across NHS Scotland.
CfSD commissioned Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to undertake a review of current international cancer referral guidelines and emerging evidence for each tumour group. Relevant cancer incidence, survival and staging data was obtained from Scottish Government data analysts and Public Health Scotland (PHS) to shape the final Guidelines and aid clinical decision-making at the point of referral.
Contact
Email: cfsdcancerandedteam@nhs.scot