Language
English
Publication Date
1-1-2025
Journal
BJGP Open
DOI
10.3399/BJGPO.2024.0115
PMID
39567233
PMCID
PMC12421275
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
5-21-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Background: The UK National Institute for Health and Care (NICE) recommends that GPs inform patients referred onto the urgent suspected cancer (USC) pathway about what to expect from the service. However, there is a lack of evidence on patient experience and information needs at the point of referral. It is a challenge for GPs to communicate the reasons for referral and provide reassurance.
Aim: To examine how GPs communicate a potential cancer diagnosis and USC referral in practice.
Design & setting: This is a secondary analysis of a dataset of 23 audio-recorded GP-patient consultations, selected from a larger dataset of 200 consultations collected in Surrey and London, UK in 2017-2018. The consultations were selected based on inclusion criteria related to cancer discussions.
Method: This is a qualitative analysis of video-recordings of face-to-face patient consultations.
Results: We found that most GPs informed patients that they might have cancer and engaged in reassurance using personalised risk statements. Some GPs avoided all mention of cancer, using symptom-led language instead. GPs focused on communicating practical rather than support-based information. Although most GPs informed patients that they would be seen by a specialist within 2 weeks, few discussed patients' support needs during the referral period.
Conclusion: Clear communication about cancer in primary care is promoted in UK policy, and has an important role driving patient investigations attendance. The study highlights the need for further research on communication practices around cancer referral to improve patient understanding and experience. Our recommendations for enhanced communication may improve patient outcomes by optimising routes to diagnosis via primary care.
Keywords
Cancer, Consultation skills, Diagnosis, General practitioners, Primary healthcare
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Russell, Jessica; Boswell, Laura; Ip, Athena; et al., "How Gps Communicate the Urgent Suspected Cancer Referral Pathway to Patients: A Qualitative Study of GP-Patient Consultations" (2025). Faculty and Staff Publications. 4529.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/baylor_docs/4529