Here for You
A personalised referral pathway to support people diagnosed with breast cancer.
Providing a trusted source of ongoing support that complements clinical care is crucial. That's why we've created Here for You - an innovative referral approach that enhances personalised support while reducing pressure on healthcare professionals.
Providing personalised support
Here for You provides people diagnosed with primary or secondary breast cancer with personalised, timely access to our trusted information and specialist support via a single healthcare professional referral. We want to ensure everyone diagnosed with breast cancer gets listened to.
We tailor our conversations to the needs of the patients and help them access support that’s right for them, at the right time. We can also support patients with different language needs through a translation service.
Reducing pressure on healthcare professionals
Our Here for You referral service helps to:
- Provide your patients with personalised information and support without increasing your workload
- Ensure all patients have access to additional support while creating more time for your team to focus on clinical or complex needs
- Reduce pressure to keep up with different services
- Create more capacity to deliver on the NHS Long-Term Plan
The Here for You referral process is brilliant. It's simple, clear, and fast! Patients seem to love the service too. It's reassuring to know Breast Cancer Now is there to provide extra support. I would recommend other healthcare professionals take up the service so that their patients can benefit from this valuable service.
How does the Here for You referral pathway work?
To refer a patient, complete our referral form. You can refer multiple patients with 1 form.
- An email or text message will be sent to the patient to confirm their referral to us.
- We call the patient within 2 weeks of the referral and explore how best we can support them at Breast Cancer Now.
- We offer a 3-month follow up call to check whether their needs have changed and tailor our information.
- We offer a 6-month follow up call to offer further support if necessary.
If you have any questions about referring your patients, or you would like to find out more about how to sign up with Here for You as a hospital or NHS Trust, please call us on 0800 448 0822, or email hereforyou@breastcancernow.org
Ongoing support that complements clinical care
Reducing social isolation
Here for You refers to our group and 1-to-1 services, providing scope for peer-to-peer support.
Reducing anxiety and confusion
Results from Here for You show that patients feel their needs are understood by our volunteers.
Increasing ability to self-manage
Our referrals to services help increase people’s confidence and ability to self-manage.
Empowering through freedom of choice
Here for You gives people time to discuss what matters to them and access to support.
Giving access to more information and support
Here for You provides access to expert information, support from healthcare professionals, and more.
Frequently asked questions
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Who can refer into Here for You?
Any healthcare professional who works with breast cancer patients can refer into Here for You. This includes clinical nurse specialists, support workers, cancer care coordinators, chemotherapy nurses, radiographers, oncologists etc.
For GDPR compliance, we need to sign a data sharing and collaboration agreement between Here for You and the NHS Trust or hospital.
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Who can I, as a healthcare professional, refer?
We are here for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer when they need us. This includes patients with primary and secondary - or metastatic - breast cancer.
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Why should I refer?
Our insight data has shown that 70% of surveyed patients would have liked to speak to an organisation for emotional support and information. 52% wanted this to happen at diagnosis. The main barrier for accessing support was not feeling confident to reach out. That is why we ask healthcare professionals to make referrals.
We are inclusive and use translators on our calls, so any patient with different language needs can be supported.
We offer a referral guide to all healthcare professionals who refer to Here for You. Please simply scroll to the end of this page for the guide.
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Can patients self-refer?
Not at this moment. We only work with healthcare professional referrals to break down any obstacles or barriers a patient may have to reach out and contact us. Our hope is that healthcare professionals routinely offer patients a referral to Here for You and thereby help reduce any disparities or inequalities.
Patients are able to contact Breast Cancer Now directly at any point both by phone and online, however Here For You works specifically with healthcare professionals to ensure that your patients’ needs are met holistically and reviewed regularly, navigating any barriers to accessing support and helping to reduce healthcare inequalities.
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How does Here for You work?
Here for You provides people diagnosed with breast cancer personalised and timely access to all of Breast Cancer Now’s trusted information and specialist support, via a single healthcare professional referral for patients with both primary and secondary diagnoses.
Once a patient is referred:
- An email or text message will be sent to the patient to confirm their referral to us.
- We call the patient within 2 weeks of the referral and explore how best we can support them at Breast Cancer Now.
- We offer a 3-month follow up call to check whether their needs have changed and tailor our information.
- We offer a 6-month follow up call to offer further support if necessary.
We personalise each call to talk about the support we have available. This includes Someone like me, Ask Our nurses and the Helpline, Moving Forward, Living with Secondary Breast Cancer, Younger Women Together, Younger Women with secondary breast cancer together, the Becca app, the Forum and website.
We also use translators for people with different language needs. -
How is my patient’s data protected?
To be fully GDPR compliant, we need to sign a data sharing agreement between the NHS Trust or hospital and Here for You.
Before making a referral, healthcare professionals must gain the patient’s consent to share their personal details with us and you will be asked to confirm this within the referral form. The patient is handed our referral card so they can get in touch and opt out, but also see our privacy policy.
Once we receive a referral, we contact the patient and let them know that they have been referred to Here for You, inform them how we handle their personal data, and give them the opportunity to opt out.
We use a secure platform, with restricted access which complies to the latest cyber security certificates. No data is transferred outside the UK.
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How do you safeguard patients?
We have robust policies and procedures in place to safeguard patients and ensure we identify and respond appropriately to concerns. All Breast Cancer Now staff and volunteers are trained in safeguarding awareness and our procedures are reviewed and updated regularly.
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Will you signpost to other organisations?
Yes - if Breast Cancer Now doesn’t have the support available. We try our best to set up a support package for your patients with our services, but know that there are other trusted organisations out there who can provide support too.
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How do you monitor and evaluate Here for You?
We have qualitative and quantitative evaluation frameworks in place which we review on a regular basis.
We also have a lived experience project group who guide us in how we monitor and evaluate Here for You, how we expand and reach more people.
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How can I contact Here for You?
You can email us on hereforyou@breastcancernow.org or call us on 0800 448 0822.
We are open Mondays to Thursdays, 9am to 5pm and Friday from 9am to 4pm.
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I've had a breast cancer diagnosis, but I'm not ready to be referred yet. How can I access Breast Cancer Now’s services?
You’re welcome to call 0800 448 0822, or email Here for You to find out more. We can tailor the information to your needs.
You can also head to our support services, the Forum, or speak to our nurses on 0808 800 6000 to find out more about what we offer.