04.09.13
GP referral could boost pancreatic cancer survival
Earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer could help 150 more patients survive for a year or longer, new research shows. Pancreatic Cancer UK is calling for the Government to halve diagnosis as a result of emergency presentation, with a target of a 10% reduction within three years.
The report Every Life Matters found that over half of all pancreatic cancer diagnoses in England currently result from an emergency presentation. When this is the case, survival rates are lower – at 9% compared to 26% for those diagnosed via a GP referral.
The average cost of an emergency admission for pancreatic cancer is nearly £5,000 and the average in-patient stay is 13.2 days. Late diagnosis can be due to non-specific symptoms, or symptoms that do not present until late in the disease.
Pancreatic Cancer UK recommends an audit to identify how many emergency presentations of pancreatic cancer could be avoided, as well as the implementation of tools to help GPs identify patients sooner, and better access for GPs to more appropriate pathways.
Alex Ford, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “For those patients who do experience symptoms and do visit their GP prior to an emergency admission diagnosis, it must be acknowledged that this may mean their lives have been needlessly shortened or lost. We believe that the NHS could do much better by all pancreatic cancer patients, including those where a diagnosis as a result of an emergency admission is not avoidable, by taking steps to eliminate unnecessary delays.”
Mr Colin Johnson, pancreatic cancer surgeon, Southampton University Hospitals Trust, said: “Emergency admissions are an increasing source of pressure on the NHS, and pancreatic cancer patients admitted this way usually end up under the care of the ‘wrong’ specialist. Delays follow, for referral to the correct team, and for requests for in-patient investigations, which could have been planned without admission after an out-patient assessment.
“Unnecessary emergency admissions bring added cost in relation to bed days and play havoc with planned elective activity. More widespread use of alternative ways of managing pancreatic emergencies, like rapid access specialist clinics, would probably benefit patients as well as the NHS.”
Dr Andrew Millar, consultant gastroenterologist and pathway director for hepatic pancreatic and biliary cancer at UCL Partners, said: “We need to look for ways to improve awareness, support clinicians to more quickly make an accurate diagnosis and ensure that the pathways into hospital and access to diagnostic tests all work towards improving survival and the quality of life for patients with pancreatic cancer. It is important that the highest standards of care are set across the UK, including equality of access to advanced surgical techniques and, for patients and their relatives and friends, the very best supportive care throughout and increasingly, after treatment.”
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