This 3rd Edition 2026 Triage Toolkit provides recommendations for best practice for the appropriate symptom assessment and triage process of children with cancer and conditions managed within children’s cancer services (0-18 years1). It must be used in conjunction with the triage practitioners’ judgment and oncology training. All practitioners can advise patients attend hospital for review outside the guideline using professional judgement, if a call does not fall within the remit of the Toolkit; examples include families with limited spoken English, or unusually complex cases. However, if the tool grading systems advises a child attends hospital for review, and a practitioner does not follow the indicated actions, rationale must be documented and escalated to a senior member of the cancer team for approval.
The original version was developed by the joint Children and Young People’s Cancer Nurses Group of the Royal College of Nursing and the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Nursing Group. You can read more about the history of the development, piloting and 2nd edition.
Implementation of 3rd Edition 2026
Services using the Triage Toolkit for Children’s Cancer Services should implement the 3rd Edition 2026 version from August 2026 onwards and should establish an implementation programme to refresh staff training using the updated tools in the Toolkit; removing all previous versions of the Toolkit.
Implementation is supported by a new Governance Guide.
Audit Tool
This updated 2026 3rd Edition of the Toolkit is offered with an optional Audit Tool to assist NHS Trusts with auditing the Triage Toolkit in practice. Regular auditing enables nurse educators and those responsible for the governance of the Toolkit, to quickly identify areas where further training may be needed, or where a process may need reviewing. The audit tool also enables Trusts to assess whether the Toolkit Assessment is appropriately bringing children to hospital for review or supporting children who are well enough to remain at home after a triage contact via safety-netting follow-up calls. It illustrates % admission rates based on the RAG rated triage assessment. It also enables Trusts to monitor various elements of the Triage Toolkit to support business planning, such as highlighting the time of day the help line is the busiest, and how much time calls take on average.
This is the first time we have offered the audit tool, and would appreciate feedback or questions via chief.nurse@cclg.org.uk
Audit Tool for 5 Patient Records, suitable for POSCUs and Children's Community Nursing Teams
Audit Tool for 15 Patient Records, suitable for PTCs and larger POSCUs
Toolkit poster ordering
A limited number of printed, laminated copies of the toolkit (A3 poster) are available to order for PTCs and POSCUs. To order copies, please email info@cclg.org.uk stating the number of copies of the poster required, and the name and delivery address.
More information
For more information, please contact chief.nurse@cclg.org.uk
References
1. Teenagers and young people aged 16 and above managed in TYA or adult cancer services can be assessed using the UKONS AOS 24 Hour Triage Tool
Page last updated July 2026