Pancreatic Cancer Action’s work with GP’s

We understand how important it is for early diagnosis that GPs and other primary care professionals have the resources and confidence they need to be able to make a pancreatic cancer referral. That involves knowing the symptoms of pancreatic cancer, who is at risk, and when to refer.

Our work with GP’s

Currently, there is no simple diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer. GPs who suspect the disease must refer patients for diagnostics or to be seen by a specialist. However, pancreatic cancer often presents with vague symptoms and can be difficult to diagnose. This is where we come in…

“Early diagnosis of cancer is so important – if people are not visiting their GP with symptoms then they could be missing out on early diagnosis which often saves lives, particularly for pancreatic cancer.”

Dr. Ellie Cannon, GP Ambassador

Our GP resources

PCA created the first ever e-learning module for pancreatic cancer for GP’s in 2014. This module provides information on pancreatic cancer symptoms, risks and diagnostics. It uses case studies and real-world scenarios to help improve confidence in recognising pancreatic cancer. Alongside this, we have developed a resource pack to aid early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer specifically for GP’s.

The resource pack includes; diagnostic guidelines, a diary to track concerning symptoms, access to a pancreatic cancer specific medical reference chart and to our free e-learning module. We also offer ongoing support and communications from the team at PCA along with a regular HealthCare professionals’ newsletter.

Our “GP Aware” Campaign is one route to the provision of these resources to pharmacists across the whole of the UK. To date provided over 2,000 GP’s with resources, but there is much more work to be done!