General practitioner assessment of structured oncological information accompanying newly referred cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate general practitioner (GP) assessment of a structured oncology information pack sent to GPs when newly referred patients had visited a department of oncology for the first time, and to compare their assessment of this material with their assessment of traditional information provided by the department.


METHODS
Randomised, unblinded clinical trial.


METHODS
Patients and GPs in the catchment area of a regional oncology department.


METHODS
248 cancer patients and their 199 GPs.


METHODS
GP assessment of the quality of the information material received for each patient.


RESULTS
88.3% of the 248 questionnaires were returned. The structured information pack improved GP knowledge of oncology; GPs found themselves better equipped to support and counsel patients during the course of their illness, and practitioner satisfaction with the department rose.


CONCLUSIONS
Intervention, though reasonably simple, inexpensive and not particularly time-consuming, improved cooperation between the specialist department and the GP. While this is a small step in the right direction, the need remains for new initiatives and further studies into how to improve cooperation and communication between the primary and secondary healthcare sectors.
Kousgaard
Karen Raaby
KR
Research Unit and Department of General Practice, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
Nielsen
Julie Damgaard
JD
Olesen
Frede
F
Jensen
Anders Bonde
AB
D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires