PLUS 2 - Developing a patient centred awareness campaign
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pharmacy referral for Lung Symptoms: a qualitative study to develop a patient centred awareness campaign
IRAS ID
239155
Contact name
Gareth Collier
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Hywel Dda University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the UK with over 30,000 per year and although there have been major developments in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, there has been very little improvement in survival over the last 20 years with over 85% of people dying within one year of diagnosis. This is due to patients being diagnosed at a late stage when the cancer has grown and spread meaning that the patient is no longer able to have treatment that may provide a cure.
Research indicates that delayed diagnosis is largely due to delays in patients attending their GP with symptoms of lung cancer. This is mainly due to a lack of symptom awareness and a reluctance to seek medical attention. This may be because patients are concerned that they would be wasting the GP’s time and are worried about what the GP might discover. In addition patients from Wales have the lowest awareness of symptoms compared to the rest of the UK and Europe.
Pharmacy interventions have shown to be highly effective within diabetes and smoking cessation. We propose that pharmacy referral for chest x-ray in patients with symptoms of possible lung cancer will encourage patients to seek medical attention sooner and lead to more patients being diagnosed at an earlier stage.
Within this study we will develop pharmacy training and campaign materials and strategies by engaging patient, professional and public representatives in focus groups.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/EM/0416
Date of REC Opinion
17 Dec 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion