ArticleBritish journal of cancer2015
The role of primary care in cancer diagnosis via emergency presentation: qualitative synthesis of significant event reports.
Article in British journal of cancer, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient involvement in diagnosing cancer in primary care: a systematic review of current interventions.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Pooled it
- Article
- Beyond Binary: A Machine Learning Framework for Interpreting Organismal Behavior in Cancer Diagnostics.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Comorbidities, Socioeconomic Status, and Colorectal Cancer Diagnostic Route.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Improving Cancer Diagnosis in Alberta, Canada: A Qualitative Study of Emergency Department Healthcare Providers' Perspectives on Diagnosing Cancer in the Emergency Setting.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Learning from new colorectal cancers: a qualitative synthesis of significant event reports.BJGP open · 2024Article
- What would primary care practitioners do differently after a delayed cancer diagnosis? Learning lessons from their experiences.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Article
- Exploring why European primary care physicians sometimes do not think of, or act on, a possible cancer diagnosis. A qualitative study.BJGP open · 2023Article
- Morbidity and measures of the diagnostic process in primary care for patients subsequently diagnosed with cancer.Family practice · 2022Article
- Optimising GPs' communication of advice to facilitate patients' self-care and prompt follow-up when the diagnosis is uncertain: a realist review of 'safety-netting' in primary care.BMJ quality & safety · 2022Review
- Do presenting symptoms, use of pre-diagnostic endoscopy and risk of emergency cancer diagnosis vary by comorbidity burden and type in patients with colorectal cancer?British journal of cancer · 2022Article
- Article
- Hodgkin lymphoma detection and survival: findings from the Haematological Malignancy Research Network.BJGP open · 2019Article
- Comorbid chronic diseases and cancer diagnosis: disease-specific effects and underlying mechanisms.Nature reviews. Clinical oncology · 2019Review
- The burden of cancer on primary and secondary health care services before and after cancer diagnosis in New South Wales, Australia.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Contrasting effects of comorbidities on emergency colon cancer diagnosis: a longitudinal data-linkage study in England.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Disease-related factors affecting timely lymphoma diagnosis: a qualitative study exploring patient experiences.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Article
- Safety netting for primary care: evidence from a literature review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019Review
- The Aarhus statement on cancer diagnostic research: turning recommendations into new survey instruments.BMC health services research · 2018Article
- GPs' understanding and practice of safety netting for potential cancer presentations: a qualitative study in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPatients diagnosed with cancer in the context of an emergency presentation (EP) have poorer outcomes. It is often assumed that such patients present to the emergency department without consulting their general practitioner (GP). Little work has been done to identify primary care involvement before hospital attendance.
methodsParticipating primary care practices completed a significant event audit (SEA) report for the last patient diagnosed with cancer as a result of an EP. Accounts were synthesised and a qualitative approach to analysis undertaken.
resultsSEAs for 222 patients were analysed. A range of cancers were included, the most common being lung (32.4%) and upper gastrointestinal (19.8%). In most cases, patients had contact with their practice before diagnosis, primarily in the period immediately before admission. In only eight cases had there been no input from primary care. Accounts of protracted primary care contact generally demonstrated complexity, often related to comorbidity, patient-mediated factors or reassurance provided by negative investigations. Learning points identified by practices centred on the themes of presentation and diagnosis, consultation and safety-netting, communication and system issues, patient factors and referral guidelines.
conclusionsThere is extensive primary care input into patients whose diagnosis results from EP, and for the most part potential 'delay' in referral can be reasonably explained by the complexity of the presentation or by coexisting patient factors.
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