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Factors influencing skin cancer excision rates in Scottish primary care
Author(s) -
Korgul R.,
Holme S. A.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1111/ced.13360
Subject(s) - medicine , skin cancer , basal cell carcinoma , economic shortage , incidence (geometry) , surgery , histopathology , cancer , general surgery , basal cell , pathology , linguistics , philosophy , physics , government (linguistics) , optics
Summary Skin cancer incidence rates are rising in the UK , yet many areas are experiencing a shortage of dermatologists. We sought to compare skin cancer excision rates between general practice ( GP ) surgeons to identify factors associated with good practice, through a retrospective analysis of GP skin cancer histopathology reports in three Scottish Health Boards over a 4‐year period. Postal questionnaires were used to explore factors affecting surgeons’ excision rates. GP s excised 895 skin cancers (4.5% of the 19 853 regional total) during the period. Of the basal cell carcinomas, 308 would be classified as low‐risk by current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence criteria. Of the returned questionnaires, 58 accounted for 631 (70.5%) of the excised skin cancers. Analysing completeness of skin cancer excision, there was a statistically significant difference between GP s performing excision on ≥ 11 lesions/month compared with those performing excision on ≤ 10/month. Policymakers may wish to consider systems to facilitate low‐risk patients being treated by GP s who undertake frequent surgical procedures.