Pharmacists will be trained to spot signs of cancer in a bid to boost early detection and improve survival rates.
Customers who repeatedly come in for cough medicine or other drugs that could be a sign of more serious illness will be sent for cancer checks without having to see a GP first.
Those with symptoms including a persistent cough, difficulty swallowing or blood in their urine will be referred to hospital for further tests as part of a pilot scheme starting in Cornwall next month.
If successful, it will be rolled out nationwide in an attempt to ensure more cancers are caught early, giving people the highest chances of survival.
Pharmacists will be able to refer people with a persistent cough, difficulty swallowing or blood in their urine will to hospital for further tests. More than 11,000 pharmacies in England can now access training to spot signs of cancer as part of a new drive to catch tumours earlier when they are easier to treat
Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said it could help to flag cancer in some hard-to-reach patients.
‘Detecting cancer earlier is vital for giving people the best chance at having successful treatment,’ he said, adding: ‘Encouraging people who would not normally seek help is yet another example of the NHS doing all it can to make getting potentially lifesaving tests and checks as convenient as possible.’
More than 11,000 pharmacies in England can now access training to spot signs of cancer as part of a new drive to catch tumours earlier when they are easier to treat.
Officials hope it will ease pressure on GPs, with latest data suggesting a further 500 full time family doctors have left the profession in the last year alone.
Cancer performance data shows that just six in 10 cancer patients started treatment in October within two months of an urgent referral from their GP (red line).The figure is the second-lowest logged since records began in 2009. NHS targets set out that the figure should be at least 85 per cent. It means 5,728 people waited more than eight weeks to start cancer treatment (blue bars)
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS health" data-version="2" id="mol-14b8d670-8798-11ed-af31-3197487c0ad7" website to refer suspected cancer patients for checks