OnMedica – News – General Practitioners Need Tools for Diagnosing Cancer During Their Surgeries

According to the RCGP, timely diagnosis and treatment can only happen with more community resources

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) says general practitioners need greater access to diagnostic tools and need to be trained to use them in their surgeries to combat rising lung cancer rates. non-smokers.

Last week, OnMedica published an article on Public Health England research * published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine which revealed that about 6,000 non-smoking Britons die each year from lung cancer, often at a stage where it is incurable. That's about one-sixth of the 36,000 deaths a year from lung cancer.

The authors included Professor Paul Cosford, Director of Health Protection and Medical Director of Public Health England, and Professor Mick Peake, Director of the Center for Cancer Research in Hospitals at University College London, who attributed the increase in car fumes, second-hand smoke indoor air pollution. Professor Cosford is himself a non-smoker with lung cancer. They call for the ban on wood stoves because the soot that they generate is also a risk.

Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, research director at RCGP, said that, in general, general practitioners are increasingly referring to cancers before they become difficult to treat: "Lung cancer can be very difficult to diagnose in primary care, can also be a sign of much more common, less serious diseases – especially if the patient is a non-smoker.

"GPs are always alert to the pressures within the NHS, so we will only refer to the patient if we sincerely suspect that a patient is suffering from some form of cancer. further improving the appropriate guidance is to ensure that they have better access to community tools and the appropriate training to use them.

"Ultimately, we also need more resources in the community, including more GPs, to continue to provide better access and provide the best care possible in the community. all of our patients, including those with cancer and those we suspect of cancer.

"Cancer is a long-term priority for the RCGP, and we have worked with Cancer Research UK and others to develop resources for general practitioners and other health professionals to help them diagnose cancer in a timely manner. . "

* Bhopal A, MD Peake, Gilligan D, et al. Lung cancer in non-smokers: a hidden disease. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. First published: April 25, 2019. DOI: 10.1177 / 0141076819843654