The Lymphoma Association has announced the launch of an online learning tool, developed with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), to increase GP understanding of lymphoma and improve survival and quality of life for lymphoma patients.
This tool answers an unmet need in primary care education as a recent survey of 1,000 GPs in the UK has shown that three quarters of GPs would welcome further support and training on how to identify and diagnose lymphoma.
Lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, is the 5th most common cancer in the UK and the commonest cancer in teenagers and young adults. Early detection of lymphoma can help improve the chance of survival and patient experience, therefore identifying the signs and symptoms of lymphoma as early as possible is vitally important.
A recent global patient survey has shown that the UK has one of the poorest rates of lymphoma diagnosis across the world; only beating Columbia for being the worst country for accurate diagnosis within four weeks. This is despite the fact that people in the UK are more likely to talk to their doctor about initial symptoms earlier than people in other parts of the world.
The online learning tool aims to increase GP understanding of lymphoma including diagnosis, how the different types of lymphoma appear in patients and the management of survivors in primary care. http://elearning.rcgp.org.uk/lymphoma
