Many GPs feel they are being left in the dark about the progress made by their patients after receiving a cancer diagnosis, a new study shows.
A majority of GPs surveyed felt they do not receive information from the hospital team on their patient’s newly diagnosed cancer in a timely manner.
The study, commissioned by the Irish Cancer Society, notes a "marked difference" between the information hospitals provide to GPs about their patients and the importance the GPs attach to this information.
Most family doctors say they are told about a patient’s diagnosis, treatment plan and date of discharge. But just 29 per cent say they receive information about a patient’s prognosis and 18 per cent are told about side effects of treatment or the hospital contact person, despite the fact that most say they need this information.
This lack of information limits GPs in managing patients and responding to family queries after cancer is diagnosed, it is suggested.
Although the report, prepared by the Irish College of General Practitioners, focuses mainly on waiting times for diagnostics and particularly on disparities in the way public and private patients are treated, it also raises issues about communication between the GPs sending patients for tests and the hospital staff who will carry out these tests and act upon them.
Relationship
The report highlights the importance of the GP-consultant relationship in ensuring that patients are seen quickly and suggests that newer GPs who don’t have the “established relationships” enjoyed by senior colleagues might be losing out as a result.
Both patients and GPs should be provided with a standardised treatment summary of the anti-cancer therapy, the study recommends. This would foster a greater understanding for patients about their treatment, and better communication between hospitals and GPs.
Access to cancer tests should not be dependent on the relationship between a patient’s GP and hospital specialists, the study says, but on a clearly defined and streamlined referral process offering timely access to relevant tests.
Such protocols exist in the UK, where guidelines recommend a waiting time target of two weeks or under for patients with suspected cancer.
Doctors said the most unacceptable delays were for gynaecological, neurological, urological and head and neck cancers. Breast, lung, prostate and melanoma cancers were less problematic because rapid access clinics are in operation. The report says guidelines similar to those in operation in the UK should be in place in Ireland for all cancers, not just the main types.
Just over half of practices reported access to a fast-track system in their local hospital for urgent referrals of other forms of the disease. However, under 40 per cent had no access for any patient with suspected cancer, up slightly from 2006, and under 20 per cent had access for patients with suspected cancer with non-specific symptoms only.
As the report points out, there is a financial benefit to early diagnosis of cancer, which is important at a time when the economic impact of the disease is increasing. The treatment of early stage cancer is often shorter, less intrusive and intensive than treatment at a later stage.
On average, a GP sees seven new cases of cancer each year and loses three patients to the disease, according to the report. Full report findings: irishtimes.com
