Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Cancer Research UK Primary Care Cancer Survey was developed in 2013 to assess and track front-line UK primary care professionals' knowledge, behaviour and attitudes to prevention, early diagnosis, and screening of cancer. The survey has been conducted annually since 2013 (with the exception of 2018-2022, where it shifted to every two years). The survey includes GPs, Practice Nurses and Community Pharmacists.

Recruitment was organised through external recruitment agencies who had pre-existing panels of healthcare professionals who were available to take part in research. Bespoke recruitment also took place to make sure target numbers were met in the Devolved Nations and across different health professional groups (e.g. Practice Nurses and Community Pharmacists). The survey typically aims to recruit between 1,000 - 1,2000 participants each year across the UK. The survey mainly consists of closed-ended questions but does include a handful of open-ended qualitative questions throughout.

Only the data from surveys completed in 2018, 2020 and 2022 are available from the UK Data Service.

The Primary Care Cancer Survey addresses the following topics:

• beliefs and attitudes around cancer
• knowledge and behaviour of cancer prevention, specifically smoking cessation and weight management.
• knowledge of potential cancer signs and symptoms
• knowledge of cancer screening programmes and behaviour around encouraging uptake to screening.
• confidence and knowledge of cancer referral tools, guidance, and pathways (e.g. clinical support tools, FIT, safety netting, referral guidance)