More must be done to detect cancer in time

SIR – The failure of many GPs to diagnose cancers early (report, April 25) is no surprise to me.

In 1998 both my mother and my father-in-law were only diagnosed with late-stage terminal cancers after emergency admissions. My mother had pancreatic cancer and had been seeing her GP for over six months with abdominal pains. My father-in-law had stomach cancer which was misdiagnosed as a hiatus hernia.

The tendency appears to be for GPs to treat for the simplest cause of the symptoms first and only offer further tests if the patient is very persistent. While earlier diagnosis might not have altered the outcome in either of the above cases, palliative care would have made their final months easier. Roger Jackson Stockport, Cheshire

SIR – GPs are highly trained and skilled professionals. The data used in your report was recorded in 2009, and since then cancer diagnosis in general practice has much improved: 75 per cent of patients found to have cancer are referred after only one or two GP consultations. In the last five years, the proportion of cancers diagnosed as an emergency has dropped from 25 per cent to 20 per cent.

Of course this figure is still too high, and we are concerned that patients are finding it more difficult to get an appointment with their GP. While patient demand has soared, the NHS share of the budget for general practice has dwindled and the number of GPs has remained stagnant.

Some cancers are more difficult to spot, and we have long campaigned for GPs to have better access to new and improved diagnostic tools.

Ultimately, NHS England must fulfil its pledges to deliver an extra £2.4 billion in funding every year for general practice and to recruit 5,000 more GPs by 2020, in order to ensure that our patients receive the care they need and deserve. Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard Chairman, Royal College of GPs London NW1