Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title New guide to support GPs ease cancer recurrence anxiety Degree of recognition National Media name/outlet NewsGP Media type Web Country/Territory Australia Date 3/12/24 Description With 60% of patients anxious their cancer will return, the three-step clinical pathway is designed to offer practical and streamlined advice...
Chair of the RACGP Expert Committee – Quality Care Professor Mark Morgan told newsGP this fear is a ‘critically important issue’ that can significantly impact a person’s wellbeing.
He said patients should be encouraged to maintain contact with their GP even in the midst of oncology treatment programs.
‘This clinical pathway was the outcome of collected Australian expert opinion using the Delphi consensus process, the resultant pathway has components that make a lot of sense,’ Professor Morgan said.
‘I hope there will be some evaluation of applying the pathway for cancer survivors so we can continue to refine and improve the process.
‘There was no consensus on when to screen cancer survivors for fear of cancer returning – GPs have confidence and expertise in sensitively exploring patient concerns when it seems appropriate, and the patient is open to the conversation.’
Professor Morgan was part of an RACGP team working on the college’s Cancer Survivorship Shared Care position statement with the aim of highlighting the role of general practice in offering patient-centred management and care.
The statement went on to call for a collaborative, shared-care cancer survivorship model between patients, their GP and the general practice team, specialist cancer services, other healthcare providers and required community services, as well as greater GP renumeration and upskilling.
However, it also points to specific barriers to providing shared care, such as time constraints, a lack of guidance for recommended timeframes for follow-up monitoring, workflow constraints, and generalists’ knowledge gaps.
Professor Morgan said similar fears often extend to patients who have survived other life-threatening illnesses, such as an acute coronary event, and that some of the same learnings from the Daffodil Centre could also apply in this setting.
But he said any care must be coordinated and communicated with the patient and all healthcare professionals.
‘There is an important role for clear communication between specialist teams and GPs so that necessary evidence-based monitoring for cancer recurrence is coordinated and neither undercooked nor excessive,’ Professor Morgan said.
Producer/Author Michelle Wisbey URL https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/clinical/new-guide-to-support-gps-ease-cancer-recurrence-an?utm_source=racgpnewsgpnewsletter&utm_campaign=newsgpedm&utm_medium=email Persons Mark Morgan