scholarly journals Describing the potential of non-specific symptoms-based pathways for diagnosing less common cancers

2021 ◽  
pp. BJGP.2020.1108
Author(s):  
Dave Chapman ◽  
Veronique Poirier ◽  
Karen Fitzgerald ◽  
Brian D. Nicholson ◽  
William Hamilton

Background: Although less common cancers account for over half of all cancer diagnoses in England, their relative scarcity and complex presentation, often with non-specific symptoms, means that patients often experience multiple primary care consultations, longer times to diagnosis and poorer clinical outcomes. An urgent referral pathway for non-specific symptoms, the Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Centre (MDC), may address this problem. Aim: To examine the less common cancers identified during the MDC pilots and consider if such an approach improves the diagnosis of these cancers. Design and Setting: A service evaluation of five MDC pilot projects in England to 31st March 2019. Method: Data items were collected by pilot sites in near-real time, based mainly on the English cancer outcomes and services dataset, with additional project specific items. Simple descriptive and comparative statistics were used, including chi-squared tests for proportions and t-tests for means where appropriate. Results: From 5,134 referrals, 378 cancers were diagnosed, of which 218 (58%) were less common. Over 30 different less common tumour types were diagnosed within this cohort. 23% of MDC patients with less common cancers had ≥3 more GP consultations before referral and, at programme level, a median time of 57 days was recorded from GP urgent referral to treatment for these tumour types. Conclusion: A non-specific symptomatic referral route diagnoses a broad range of less common cancers, and can support primary care case management for patients with symptoms of possible cancer that do not qualify for a site-specific urgent referral.

Author(s):  
Saoirse Olivia Dolly ◽  
Geraint Jones ◽  
Paula Allchorne ◽  
Daniel Wheeler ◽  
Sunnyath Ali ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Rapid Diagnostic Clinics (RDC) are being expanded nationally by NHS England. Guy’s RDC established a pathway for GPs and internal referrals for patients with symptoms concerning for malignancy not suitable for a site-specific 2WW referral. However, little data assessing the effectiveness of RDC models are available in an English population. Methods We evaluated all patients referred to Guy’s RDC between December 2016 and June 2019 (n = 1341) to assess the rate of cancer diagnoses, frequency of benign conditions and effectiveness of the service. Results There were 96 new cancer diagnoses (7.2%): lung (16%), haematological (13%) and colorectal (12%)—with stage IV being most frequent (40%). Median time to definitive cancer diagnosis was 28 days (IQR 15–47) and treatment 56 days (IQR 32–84). In all, 75% were suitable for treatment: surgery (26%), systemic (24%) and radiotherapy (14%). Over 180 serious non-neoplastic conditions were diagnosed (35.8%) of patients with no significant findings in two-third of patients (57.0%). Conclusions RDCs provide GPs with a streamlined pathway for patients with complex non-site-specific symptoms that can be challenging for primary care. The 7% rate of cancer diagnosis exceeds many 2WW pathways and a third of patients presented with significant non-cancer diagnoses, which justifies the need for rapid diagnostics. Rapid Diagnostic Centres (RDCs) are being rolled out nationally by NHS England and NHS Improvement as part of the NHS long-term plan. The aim is for a primary care referral pathway that streamlines diagnostics, patient journey, clinical outcomes and patient experience. This pilot study of 1341 patients provides an in-depth analysis of the largest single RDC in England. Cancer was diagnosed in 7% of patients and serious non-cancer conditions in 36%—justifying the RDC approach in vague symptom patients.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 546-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Leite Alves de Oliveira ◽  
Cátia Regina Branco da Fonseca ◽  
Maria Antonieta de Barros Leite Carvalhaes ◽  
Cristina Maria Garcia de Lima Parada

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the quality of the pre-natal care delivered in primary care, comparing the traditional model and the Family Health Strategy. METHOD: a service evaluation study, grounded in the public health policies. The data was obtained from interviews with managers, observation in the health centers, and analysis of patient records of pregnant women, selected at random. Differences in the indicators for structure and process were evaluated using the Chi-squared test, adopting p<0.05 as the critical value, calculation of the odds ratio, and confidence intervals of 95%. RESULTS: Similar structures were evidenced in both models of care. Synthesis indicators for the process created in the present study, and those indicated by the public policies, indicated that the situation is more favorable in Family Health Centers. Regarding the set of activities called for in pre-natal care, the performance was flawed in both models, although it was slightly better in the Family Health Centers. CONCLUSION: the results indicate the need for actions to improve pre-natal care in the two models of primary care evaluated in the municipality.


Author(s):  
Hector Riquelme-Heras

Background: Parkinson's disease was described for the first time by James Parkinson in 1817 in the trial "Shaking Palsy," and thus there is also evidence of this disease in the Indian medical system 4500 years ago, for the diagnosis and its management with Mucuna pruriens.Years later, it was subsequently determined to contain levodopa. Two types of manifestations of Parkinson's disease are currently known, such as motor and non-motor, the first being the one that usually leads to diagnosis. Success in this will depend on the skill of the primary care physician, the ability to recognize the first symptoms by the patient, and the health systems in the management of care for the timely referral. This work shows the comprehensive management of a patient who arrives at Primary Care services, presenting vague and specific symptoms. These symptoms were treated with medications or remedies in order to calm the condition temporarily. It is convenient to call the specific symptoms such as headache, nausea, pain, dizziness, tiredness and weakness, poor motivation, sadness, easy crying, and sleep disturbances; A large percentage go to their health centers for presenting motor alterations, many times identified by their relatives or by themselves and despite being recognized as something abnormal, many of them come when the tremor intervenes with the activities of daily life. At this point, the management of the disease would begin, making clear the importance of education for the population to attend abnormal situations on time and not in late stages, significantly improving the quality of life or the prognosis of the disease Parkinson's, as is the case that occurred in our institution; A 64-year-old female patient who presents with tremor in the fifth finger of the right hand, she mentions that it is more intense when there are apparently stress situations, hyposmia and sleep disturbances, going to different health centers where they were controlled the discomfort with essential medications, many of these not requiring a prescription, temporarily decreasing in intensity; This being the beginning of multi-causality for proper management from considering the first contact doctor as a resource manager with the use of diagnostic skills to recognize characteristic signs in early stages of the disease and the ability to maintain continuity with the patients and their families as a model of family system. Studies were determined that non-motor manifestations could appear months or years before they manifest as motor symptoms to give comprehensive management to patients from their first contact with the health centers closest to them. The diagnostic presumption and its referral to the neurology and timely treatment service, until evaluating the functionality and efficacy of health policies, avoiding the delay in pharmacological treatment and access to specific neuroimaging studies at any stage of the disease. Objective: The objective of this report is to present a clinical case of a patient diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, from its management in the first contact medical services to have comprehensive management by a neurologist, thus in this way the period of latency to start treatment. Methods: We present a clinical case of a 64-year-old patient who came to consultation due to a tremor in the fifth finger of the right hand.A review of her medical history is performed, and management by different specialties is identified, for mood disorders, insomnia, essential tremor in addition to allergic rhinitis, already with drug treatment with slight or no improvement. The patient underwent a neurological examination and imaging and laboratory studies. She was referred to the neurology service as soon as possible. Result: After the interrogation and physical examination, the patient was referred to the Neurology service to confirm the presumption of diagnosis as a movement disorder under study. This process is often called the "latency period" of the diagnosis. The present work is shown as a decisive factor in giving a verdict on this problem. It is known that this level of resolution takes into account the pillars of first contact medicine as health resource managers. In this way, pharmacological treatment was started with a decrease in tremor as a motor symptom and an increase in quality and amount of sleep, increased mood, and affect as non-motor symptoms. Conclusion: The patient is under established medical and pharmacological control, and the long diagnostic latency period could be evidenced, as it usually happens in many movement disorders or their early stages, in this case, Parkinson's disease. Likewise, the family doctor is an instrument that allows the resolution of more than 90% of health problems in general, and the proper management of the remaining percentage is multifactorial, as well as medical skill and experience, the capacity of the patient or the family members. in recognizing early-stage motor disorders and health systems that often make a referral to other medical specialties difficult.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maddy French ◽  
Mark Spencer ◽  
Mike Walker ◽  
Afzal Patel ◽  
Neil Clarke ◽  
...  

Introduction In addition to the direct impact of COVID-19 infections on health and mortality, a growing body of literature indicates there are wide-ranging indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures on population health and wellbeing. Exploring these indirect impacts in the context of a socially deprived UK coastal town will help identify priority areas to focus COVID-19 recovery efforts on. Methods Data on primary care diagnosis, hospital admissions, and several socioeconomic outcomes between 2016 and Spring 2021 in the UK town of Fleetwood were collected and analysed in an exploratory analysis looking at pre- and post- COVID-19 patterns in health and social outcomes. Weekly and monthly trends were plotted by time and differences between periods examined using Chi-squared and t-tests. Results Initial falls in hospital admissions and diagnoses of conditions in primary care in March 2020 were followed by sustained changes to health service activity for specific diagnostic and demographic groups, including for chronic kidney disease and young people. Increases in the number of people receiving Universal Credit and children eligible for free school meals appear to be greater for those in the least deprived areas of the town. Discussion These exploratory findings provide initial evidence of the sustained impact of the pandemic across several health and social outcomes. Examining these trends in multivariate analyses will further test these associations and establish the strength of the medium term impact of the pandemic on the population of this coastal town. Advanced modelling of this data is ongoing and will be published shortly.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Cottrell ◽  
Victoria Silverwood ◽  
Alex Strivens-Joyce ◽  
Lucy Minshull ◽  
John J. Edwards ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Physician associates (PA) form part of the policy-driven response to increased primary care demand and a general practitioner (GP) recruitment and retention crisis. However, they are novel to the primary care workforce and have limitations, for example, they cannot prescribe. The novel 1 year Staffordshire PA Internship (SPAI) scheme, introduced in 2017, was established to support the integration of PAs into primary care. PA interns concurrently worked in primary and secondary care posts, with protected weekly primary care focussed education sessions. This evaluation established the acceptability of PA interns within primary care. Methods All ten PAs from the first two SPAI cohorts, the nine host practices (supervising GPs and practice managers) and host practice patients were invited to participate in the evaluation. A conceptual framework for implementing interventions in primary care informed data collection and analysis. Data were gathered at three time points over the internship from practices, through discussions with the supervising GP and/or practice manager, and from the PAs via discussion groups. To enrich discussion data, PA and practices were sent brief surveys requesting information on PA/practice characteristics and PA primary care roles. Patient acceptability data were collected by the host practices. Participation at every stage was optional. Results By evaluation end, eight PAs had completed the internship. Seven PAs and six practices provided data at every time point. Five practices provided patient acceptability data. Overall PA interns were acceptable to practices and patients, however ambiguity about the PA role and how best to communicate and operationalise PA roles was revealed. An expectation-preparedness gap resulted in PAs needing high levels of supervision early within the internship. SPAI facilitated closure of the expectation-preparedness gap and its funding arrangements made the high supervision requirements more acceptable to practices. Conclusions The test-of-concept SPAI successfully integrated new PAs into primary care. However, the identified challenges risk undermining PAs roles in primary care before they have attained their full potential. Nationally, workforce leaders should develop approaches to support new PAs into primary care, including commitments to longer-term, sustainable, cohesive and appropriately funded schemes, including structured and standardised education and supervision.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Mansfield ◽  
Onil Bhattacharyya ◽  
Jennifer Christian ◽  
Gary Naglie ◽  
Vicky Steriopoulos ◽  
...  

Purpose Canada’s primary care system has been described as “a culture of pilot projects” with little evidence of converting successful initiatives into funded, permanent programs or sharing project outcomes and insights across jurisdictions. Health services pilot projects are advocated as an effective strategy for identifying promising models of care and building integrated care partnerships in local settings. In the qualitative study reported here, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the strengths and challenges of this approach. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 primary care physicians who discussed their experiences as pilot project leads. Following thematic analysis methods, broad system issues were captured as well as individual project information. Findings While participants often portrayed themselves as advocates for vulnerable patients, mobilizing healthcare organizations and providers to support new models of care was discussed as challenging. Competition between local healthcare providers and initiatives could impact pilot project success. Participants also reported tensions between their clinical, project management and research roles with additional time demands and skill requirements interfering with the work of implementing and evaluating service innovations. Originality/value Study findings highlight the complexity of pilot project implementation, which encompasses physician commitment to addressing care for vulnerable populations through to the need for additional skill set requirements and the impact of local project environments. The current pilot project approach could be strengthened by including more multidisciplinary collaboration and providing infrastructure supports to enhance the design, implementation and evaluation of health services improvement initiatives.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. e033008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Pearson ◽  
Veronique Poirier ◽  
Karen Fitzgerald ◽  
Greg Rubin ◽  
Willie Hamilton

IntroductionPatients presenting to primary care with site-specific alarm symptoms can be referred onto urgent suspected cancer pathways, whereas those with non-specific symptoms currently have no dedicated referral routes leading to delays in cancer diagnosis and poorer outcomes. Pilot Multidisciplinary Diagnostic Centres (MDCs) provide a referral route for such patients in England.ObjectivesThis work aimed to use linked primary care and cancer registration data to describe diagnostic pathways for patients similar to those being referred into MDCs and compare them to patients presenting with more specific symptoms.MethodsThis cross-sectional study linked primary care data from the National Cancer Diagnosis Audit (NCDA) to national cancer registration and Route to Diagnosis records. Patient symptoms recorded in the NCDA were used to allocate patients to one of two groups - those presenting with symptoms mirroring referral criteria of MDCs (non-specific but concerning symptoms (NSCS)) and those with at least one site-specific alarm symptom (non-NSCS). Descriptive analyses compared the two groups and regression analysis by group investigated associations with long primary care intervals (PCIs).ResultsPatients with NSCS were more likely to be diagnosed at later stage (32% stage 4, compared with 21% in non-NSCS) and via an emergency presentation (34% vs 16%). These patients also had more multiple pre-referral general practitioner consultations (59% vs 43%) and primary care-led diagnostics (blood tests: 57% vs 35%). Patients with NSCS had higher odds of having longer PCIs (adjusted OR: 1.24 (1.11 to 1.36)). Patients with lung and urological cancers also had higher odds of longer PCIs overall and in both groups.ConclusionsDifferences in the diagnostic pathway show that patients with symptoms mirroring the MDC referral criteria could benefit from a new referral pathway.


Physiotherapy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. e65
Author(s):  
S. Ingram ◽  
S. Pickup ◽  
T. Acton ◽  
A. Peek ◽  
L. Smith ◽  
...  

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