SSNAP: A feasibility Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A feasibility study of the Shared Safety Net Action Plan (SSNAP): a safety-netting intervention that engages patients to support earlier diagnosis of cancer in general practice
IRAS ID
345898
Contact name
Lynn McVey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 5 months, 28 days
Research summary
‘Safety-netting’ is used by healthcare professionals to monitor patients while they wait for diagnoses and to organise follow-up when needed. It may involve them asking patients to keep an eye on their symptoms and to come back if symptoms haven’t cleared up within a certain time. This is particularly important when there is uncertainty about diagnosis and potential for serious illness like cancer. However, existing approaches do not always work well for patients. For example, patients might forget or misunderstand which symptoms they are supposed to be monitoring.
The Shared Safety Net Action Plan (SSNAP) is designed to involve patients in safety-netting who see their general practice clinician with non-specific symptoms that could be a sign of cancer, such as feeling tired or losing weight. It produces a summary of the safety-netting discussion, which can be printed or sent electronically to patients, so they understand what symptoms to monitor, for how long, and in what circumstances they should return to the practice. SSNAP also provides ways for practices to follow patients up.
This study will test if SSNAP works to support safety-netting and will run for 30 months. We will work with adult patients, their families and staff in six general practices in Northern England that serve different kinds of patients. In three practices SSNAP will be used where patients and healthcare professionals agree it is needed, while in the others SSNAP will not be used. Patients and families will complete questionnaires about how they found the consultations and those who used SSNAP will talk to researchers about it. Staff will talk to researchers about their experiences too. Statistics will be produced about SSNAP’s use and effect, and user perspectives will be summarised. This information will inform the design of a larger study to test SSNAP across England.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/YH/0163
Date of REC Opinion
7 Oct 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion