Last reviewed: 10 November 2026
Last reviewed: 10 November 2026
GPs and PCNs play a pivotal role in diagnosing cancer earlier and supporting the national cancer plan ambition to see three in four people diagnosed at stage 1 and 2 by 2035. This information is designed to help GP practices and PCNs in England to deliver on their GP contract requirements for the early diagnosis of cancer and tackling neighbourhood health inequalities.
Read the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES) specification requirements
Read the accompanying guidance
These pages have been developed with our Clinical Leads at Cancer Research UK.
The 2026/27 PCN DES notes that PCNs must deliver four key functions:
“Co-ordinate, organise and deploy shared resources to support and improve resilience and care delivery at both PCN and practice level;
Improve health outcomes for its patients through effective population health management and reducing health inequalities;
Target resource and efforts in the most effective way to meet patient need, which includes delivering proactive care; and
Collaborate with non-GP providers to provide better joined up care, as part of an integrated neighbourhood team."
Improving referral practices
Improving early diagnosis with a specific focus on screening uptake
Reducing health inequalities
Primary care has a vital role to play in system-wide improvement efforts to increase the proportion of cancers diagnosed early. The PCN DES seeks to improve referral practice, screening uptake, promote use of Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) and Teledermatology, and non-specific symptom cancer pathways.
Health inequalities impact every part of the cancer pathway including prevalence of cancer risk factors, screening uptake, stage of disease at diagnosis, and access to and experience of treatment. They also contribute to stark differences in incidence and outcomes.
Although health inequalities are largely driven by factors outside of the healthcare system, actions taken within the healthcare system can impact health inequalities. We would particularly highlight cancer prevention as an additional area where action could have a significant impact.
For more information on the cancer-specific recommendations and resources to support with these requirements, visit our delivering the PCN DES on early cancer diagnosis page.
Delivering the PCN DESReview and understand data from audits, local or national sources, which may provide insight into areas to focus on at a PCN level.
Make sure you check what is taking place (or being planned) in your cancer alliance / neighbourhood or PCN.
Use the free education resources already available to your primary care teams – including Gateway C and the CRUK and Macmillan Community of Practice.
Make sure you link in with your Cancer Alliance, ICB or PCN Cancer Lead who will likely have local plans and resources to support you.
Safety netting is key – use IT solutions to help with this and visit Cancer Research UKs webpage on e-safety netting and making the most of e-safety netting tools.
Identify opportunities to share resources across PCNs and neighbourhoods to complete the PCN DES work.
Look at CRUK’s recommended key resources and find further support on our 'Delivering the PCN DES' page.
There are a variety of resources that can help GPs and PCNs deliver the cancer priorities in the PCN DES 2026/27. Here are some resources we think might be helpful.
Download our NG12 symptom referral guidelines poster and NG12 symptoms guide(PDF, 1.14 MB) to support with navigating and applying the guidelines in practice.
Use Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) Fingertips to review your PCN level reports and check with your ICB / cancer alliance for more up to date local information.
Use our GP bowel screening tool to explore how socio-demographic factors may affect screening coverage. Use this alongside our Bowel Grid, a practical tool designed to help health systems identify which bowel screening interventions are most likely to improve uptake among groups with lower participation
We offer a range of e-learning and resources for healthcare professionals(PDF, 4.04 MB) on cancer screening and diagnosis in partnership with trusted e-learning providers.
Tell your networks about our cancer awareness training programme which gives people in public-facing roles the confidence to talk about how you can reduce risks of cancer and how to spot it early on.
Stay up-to-date with the latest cancer research information.
