ArticleBMJ open2023
Qualitative interview study exploring the early identification and referral of patients with suspected head and neck cancer by community pharmacists in England.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early cancer diagnosis and community pharmacies: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Pooled it
- Why aren't they used? Systematic review of barriers to implementation of clinical decision support systems for early cancer detection in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Pooled it
- The implementation challenge of computerised clinical decision support systems for the detection of disease in primary care: systematic review and recommendations.Implementation science : IS · 2025Pooled it
- Enhancing holistic patient care of black individuals diagnosed with HIV and comorbid chronic conditions.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Article
- Initial Management Strategies for Oral Mucosal Lesions Among Local Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Article
- Is the early identification and referral of suspected head and neck cancers by community pharmacists feasible? A qualitative interview study exploring the views of patients in North East England.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo explore pharmacists' perceptions of, and attitudes towards, the early identification and referral of patients with signs and symptoms indicating potential diagnosis of head and neck cancer (HNC) in community pharmacy settings.
designQualitative methodology, using constant comparative analysis to undertake an iterative series of semistructured interviews. Framework analysis facilitated the identification of salient themes.
settingCommunity pharmacies in Northern England.
participants17 community pharmacists.
resultsFour salient and inter-related categories emerged: (1) Opportunity and access, indicating frequent consultations with patients presenting with potential HNC symptoms and the accessible nature of community pharmacists; (2) Knowledge gap, indicating knowledge of key referral criteria, but limited experience and expertise in undertaking more holistic patient assessments to inform clinical decision making; (3) Referral pathways and workloads; indicating good working relationships with general medical practices, but limited collaboration with dental services, and a desire to engage with formal referral pathways, but current practices based entirely on signposting resulting in a potential lack of safety-netting, no auditable trail, feedback mechanism or integration into the multidisciplinary team; (4) Utilisation of clinical decision support tools; indicating that no participants were aware the Head and Neck Cancer Risk Calculator (HaNC-RC V2) for HNC but were positive towards the use of such tools to improve decision making. HaNC-RC V2 was seen as a potential tool to facilitate a more holistic approach to assessing patient's symptoms, acting as a prompt to further explore a patient's presentation, requiring further investigation in this context.
conclusionsCommunity pharmacies offer access to patients and high-risk populations that could support HNC awareness initiatives, earlier identification and referral. However, further work to develop a sustainable and cost-effective approach to integrating pharmacists into cancer referral pathways is needed, alongside appropriate training for pharmacists to successfully deliver optimum patient care.
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