1 INTRODUCTION
Primary care particularly in the UK plays an important role in the
referral to and coordination of specialist care leading to early
detection of risk and diagnosis of cancer. In spite of this important
role played by primary care practitioners, the UK has one of the highest
cancer mortality rates (particularly for women) in
Europe.1 This may be due to patients presenting late
with symptoms, general practitioners (GPs) failing to recognise
potential cancer symptoms during primary care consultations or delayed
referral to specialist care.2-4
Cancer risk assessment tools designed for symptomatic individuals have
been advocated for use in primary care to estimate an individual’s risk
of developing cancer based on their risk factors and symptoms, to enable
earlier detection or diagnosis of the condition.5,6Two cancer risk assessment tools designed for symptomatic patients
presenting to primary care are currently being promoted in UK general
practice: QCancer6 and the Risk Assessment Tool
(RAT).5
QCancer has been independently validated7,8 and found
to accurately predict risk of cancer in primary care. However, little is
known about service users’ and practitioners’ views on this tool in
terms of the perceived barriers and facilitators to the implementation
of the tool. Our aim was to explore what service users (adults without a
cancer) and primary care practitioners (GPs and practice nurses)
perceived as barriers and facilitators to the implementation of QCancer
in primary care consultations.