Alliance Healthcare launches cancer symptom referral scheme in UK pharmacies

Around three million people in the UK were estimated to be living with cancer in 2022

Alliance Healthcare has announced it has opened access to UK pharmacies of its ‘Not Normal for You?’ (NNFY) cancer symptom referral scheme to allow pharmacists to refer patients showing potential cancer symptoms to their GPs.

The expansion follows the successful launch of the scheme across Alphega Pharmacy’s network, a brand under Alliance Healthcare comprising a network of independent pharmacies across the world.

According to Macmillan Cancer Support, around three million people in the UK were estimated to be living with cancer in 2022.

The most common cancers in the UK are breast cancer, which accounts for 15% of all cases, followed by prostate cancer (14%), lung cancer (13%) and bowel cancer (11%).

As part of the rollout, Alliance Healthcare will provide pharmacies with marketing materials such as leaflets and referral cards, free of charge, to further increase the likelihood of diagnosis after potential symptoms have been identified.

Pharmacy teams will be trained to spot early symptoms of cancer and other illnesses, as well as ‘red flag’ symptoms and behaviours that could be indicative of certain cancers.

Symptoms will be written on the back of a NNFY orange referral card to be presented to a GP to confirm symptoms.

Pioneered by Jackie Lewis, pharmacy director of Lewis Pharmacy in Exmouth, the Alphega Pharmacy network, comprising more than 1,000 pharmacies in the UK, trialled the scheme in October 2023 and it was shown to be extremely effective in enabling pharmacists to refer patients to their GPs, revealing several cases of skin cancer.

Dr Mandeep Mudhar, head of Alphega Pharmacy UK, said: “With 1.6 million people visiting their community pharmacy each day in England, pharmacists are well-placed to support… their patients.”

Lewis commented: “By equipping frontline healthcare providers with the tools to recognise potential symptoms, lives can be saved through early treatment.”