Urgent GP referrals
Updated 25 May 2022
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/be-clear-on-cancer-first-national-cervical-screening-saves-lives-campaign/urgent-gp-referrals
This is one of a series of summaries produced for the campaign, each focusing on a different evaluation measure (referred to as a metric) which reflects a key point in the patient pathway. These metrics should not be considered in isolation. Please refer to the considerations when interpreting these results.
Main finding
There was no clear evidence to suggest whether the first national ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign had an impact on the number of urgent referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers. Although there was a significant increase in urgent referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers, a similar increase was also observed for other suspected cancers.
Background
This metric considers whether the first national ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign had an impact on the number of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers.
For those women who have a cervical screening result reported as a glandular neoplasia, where no cervical cell abnormalities are found but the sample contains features suggesting a diagnosis of endometrial, ovarian, or metastatic lesions from beyond the genital tract, they are advised to see a general practitioner (GP). The GP would then refer the patient via an urgent GP referral for suspected gynaecological cancer. Therefore, due to the campaign message encouraging women to attend their screening appointment, we may see an increase in urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancer.
Methods
The monthly number of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers was extracted from the National Cancer Waiting Times Monitoring dataset, provided by NHS England and NHS Improvement. The data is presented by month first seen.
The analysis period was defined as March to May 2019 and was compared to the same three months in 2018[footnote 1]. The number of urgent GP referrals for women with other suspected cancers [footnote 2] was analysed as a control group.
Results
Figure 1 shows that there was a gradual increasing trend in the number of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers from January 2018 to October 2019.
Figure 1: Monthly number of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers from January 2018 to October 2019, England
Comparing March to May 2018 and March to May 2019, the number of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers increased by a statistically significant 14.7% (p<0.001). However, there was also a similar 13.3% statistically significant increase in the number of urgent GP referrals for other suspected cancers (p<0.001) (table 1).
Table 1: Number of urgent referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers and for other suspected cancers[footnote 2] in women, with referral rate and percentage change in number of referrals, from March to May 2018 and March to May 2019, England
| Referrals March to May 2018 | Referrals March to May 2019 | Percentage change | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gynaecological | 47,446 | 54,405 | 14.7 | <0.001 |
| Other | 169,783 | 192,367 | 13.3 | <0.001 |
Comparing March to May 2019 with the same months in the previous year, there were statistically significant increases in the numbers of urgent GP referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers among all age groups and deprivation quintiles:
- there were increases of 23.1%, 16.3%, 14.6%, 10.6% for women aged <25, 25 to 49, 50 to 64 and 65 and over, respectively (all p<0.001).
- the percentage increase in the least deprived group was 16.1% (p<0.001) compared with 14.6% (p<0.001) in the most deprived group.
Conclusions
There was a statistically significant increase in the number of urgent referrals for suspected gynaecological cancers, though this appears to be in line with the long-term trend and a similar increase was observed in the control.
Get advice on the signs and symptoms of cancer from the NHS website. You can also find out more about the evaluation of Be Clear on Cancer campaigns.