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.