The needs of general practitioners in the follow-up of patients with colorectal cancer

Background: Follow-up of colorectal cancer creates a large workload for Nat ional Health Service (NHS) clinics. We investigated what the requirements o f the general practitioners of Teesside, UK would be in order to accept to participate in the follow-up of colorectal cancer. Materials and methods: Postal survey questionnaire of all 278 GPs in 83 pra ctices under Tees Health Authority, UK. Results: The response rate was 59%. Forty three percent of GPs thought it w ould be a natural part of their work while 39% thought it was not their rem it and fifty percent found the idea interesting, 37% thought it unrealistic and 8% considered it wrong. Their main reservations were work burden (60%) , lack of guidelines (59%), lack. of specialized knowledge (51%) and delays of re-referrals to specialists (41%). Their principal requirements in orde r to participate were guidelines (77%), fast routes of re-referral to speci alists (72%), seminars to bring them up-to-date (50%) and open access to in vestigations such as colonoscopy (45%). From the respondents, 56% were keen to participate in further discussion on the issue. Conclusion: A significant number of general practitioners wish to participa te in the follow-up of colorectal cancer. Their principal requirements conc ern quality issues, including guidelines, up-to-date knowledge and delays i n re-referring patients with recurrence. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.