Follow-up care for patients with cancer

Improved survival rates for patients with cancer in an ageing population have resulted in increasing numbers of people who need follow up after their treatment. Could primary care play a bigger role in after-care and what are the workload implications? Fidjeland and colleagues analysed over 11000 consultations in 1932 Norwegian patients with cancer and reported that those people attended more often for cancer-related problems than the reference population. GPs are already playing a substantial role in the follow-up of patients with cancer and formalisation of this responsibility may not necessarily have large workload implications.

Gabapentinoids and oxycodone prescribing continues to rise in England

There is increasing concern about the risks, including overdose death, associated with gabapentin, pregabalin, and oxycodone. Primary care prescribing patterns between April 2013 and March 2018 were analysed by Green and colleagues in London. Despite rising awareness of the potential harms in recent years, all three medications saw a year-on-year increase in prescribing rates with the largest increases seen with pregabalin. Deprived areas are prescribed significantly more, fitting with higher levels of chronic pain in these communities, but the authors speculate that vulnerable socioeconomic groups may, as is the case with alcohol, suffer disproportionate harm.

Pre-diabetes in deprived areas

It has been estimated that up to 30% of the UK population may have pre-diabetes but there has been no research on the lived experience for people living in an area of socioeconomic deprivation. Twohig and colleagues undertook a qualitative study with patients from Sheffield, UK. There was a complex interplay of factors but healthcare professionals in primary care played a key role in shaping patients' attitudes. Some people normalised it but almost all used it as a driver to make some positive changes to their lifestyle, even those who declined referral to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.