title: Medicolegal implications of accuracy of GP referral letters to specialist breast clinic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Referrals to symptomatic breast clinics have increased significantly in recent years with unchanged numbers of detected cancers. The general practitioner (GP) referral information relating to this increased patient volume causes anxiety and potentially creates confusion and future medicolegal issues if inaccurate.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare GP triage category requests and clinical findings with those determined by the breast centre.
  
  
  METHODS
  1,014 consecutive referrals to a symptomatic breast service were included. GP triage request category and clinical findings were prospectively recorded and compared to cancer centre surgeon triage category, clinical findings and cancer detection rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  GPs requested urgent appointments for 49 % of referrals, only 22 % were considered urgent on triage at the cancer centre. The triage category request was downgraded in 56 % of referrals from urgent to routine. Thirty-three cancers were detected, representing 3 % of referrals. Eighty-eight percent of cancers were identified in the group with positive clinical findings at the breast clinic. 24 % of the new referrals were for mastalgia alone. In the 55 % of referred cases where GPs reported a clinical abnormality, only 39 % of these had a clinical finding confirmed by the breast surgeon.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is poor correlation between GP triage category request and those assigned by the breast unit. GP referrals indicating patients with a clinical abnormality was discordant with specialist findings in 61% of cases. The frequency of overstating of clinical findings by GPs is such that subsequent cancer diagnosis does not imply failure of a preceding triple assessment process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland. dr.abubakr@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marginan
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland. ray.mclaughlin@hse.ie.|Department of Academic Surgery, University College Hospital Galway, Galway, Ireland. ray.mclaughlin@hse.ie.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McLaughlin
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG)/National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kerin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D059373:Mastodynia / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013038:Specialization; D014218:Triage
keywords: Breast cancer; GP; Interval cancer; Medicolegal; Symptoms