About Cancer Services

Croydon Health Services is the local provider of diagnostic, surgical and other treatment services for patients with common cancers. We are part of the Royal Marsden Partners (RMP) West London Cancer Alliance, and work closely with neighbouring Trusts to deliver quality care to patients accessing our services.

Our Cancer Services is delivered by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) comprising of Specialist Consultants, Doctors, Consultant Nurses, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, , Oncologists, Psychologists, Physiotherapists, Radiologists, Pathologists, MDT Coordinators and Macmillan Support Officers.

We aim to provide a high quality patient centred service, in a holistic and supportive manner.

Management team

Rebecca Board - Director of cancer and Purley Hospital
Lauren Devaney – General Manager for Cancer and Performance
Mr Babbin John – Consultant Urological Surgeon and CHS Trust Cancer Lead
Baljit Vohra - Macmillan Lead Cancer Nurse
Sheefa Ahamadali – Operational Manager for Cancer
Helen Driver - Cancer Data Lead
Karen Drew - Macmillan Business Support Manager

Having tests for suspected cancers at Croydon Health Services

If a GP refers you to a specialist because they think you could have cancer, you'll have tests to check for cancer. The tests will vary depending on your symptoms. Please see our cancer specific pages for more information.

This information sheet Patient information for urgent referrals explains why your GP has referred you urgently to hospital and what you need to do .

Also available in: Arabic ; Bengali ; Bengali (Sylheti) ; Chinese (simplified) ; Chinese (traditional) ; English ; Gujarati ; Hindi ; Polish ; Punjabi ; Romanian ; Somali ; Spanish ; Tamil ; Turkish ; Urdu ; easy read version (English)

For more additional information:

The Support Guide for Anyone on a Suspected Cancer Pathway Macmillan information: A - Z Diagnostic tests

What happens if you are diagnosed with cancer

If you've been told you have cancer, you may need more tests which can include:

The results of these tests can show the stage/extend of your cancer, and if the cancer has been caused by certain changes in your genes. This will also help your specialist team decide what treatment you need.

You may be offered a combination of treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted medicines. Treatments are offered in collaboration with St George’s Hospital University NHS Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital.

Your specialist treatment team will:

explain the treatments, the benefits and side effects
work with you to make a treatment plan that's best for you
help you to manage the side effects of treatment

If you have any questions or worries, you can talk to your specialist team

Macmillan information: Making treatment decisions

Macmillan information: A - Z treatments - drugs

Macmillan information: After Treatment

Personalised Cancer Care

Personalised cancer care allows you to take an active role in the way your care is planned and delivered by identifying your concerns and support needs. It puts you in control of your care, with our help.

There are lots of things you can do to look after your own health during and after cancer treatment. Some of this can be done with the involvement of your clinical team, such as physical activity and dietary modifications

Here are the key elements of personalised care for our cancer patients:

Personalised Assessment and Care Planning
Access to health and wellbeing information and support
End of treatment summaries to support you with understanding and managing impacts of cancer– also shared with your GP so they can support you.
Stratified Follow up when you have finished treatment or are living with cancer.