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Primary Care Network Bulletin
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OCTOBER 2025
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Following our two Quality Improvement (QI) sessions, Dr Joanna Bircher is offering online drop in sessions for any colleagues who may have a query and want to discuss this further. The drop-in sessions will be held 12-1pm on the dates below. The drop-in invitations have already been circulated. If you have not received the drop-in invitations, please contact your Primary Care Facilitator.
Monday 13th October
Monday 3rd November
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The new Heartburn Health Roadshow will visit 10 areas of Greater Manchester to raise awareness about ongoing heartburn and the potential symptoms of oesophageal cancer. It will be out on the roads between 6 and 17 October 2025 and is a partnership between the Alliance and national charity Heartburn Cancer UK. Residents are invited to pop along to get information about heartburn, indigestion and acid reflux and find out more about the potential early symptoms of oesophageal cancer to look out for.
For more information and a full timetable for the roadshow, please click here.
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Our 'This Van Can' cancer awareness roadshow will be back on the road Tuesday 28th October, visiting all ten boroughs of Greater Manchester and delivering over 70 events over the next few months. This time it will be focusing on generic red flag symptoms rather than one specific type of cancer, encouraging the people of Greater Manchester to “Get Cancer Clever”. Specially trained staff will be available for friendly chats, advice, and information. Visitors can stop by for a quick conversation or pick up free materials to take home.
As well as the van, the “Get Cancer Clever” campaign will be sharing key signs and symptoms of cancer using social and traditional media. It also hopes to debunk some of the myths around cancer that might create barriers to seeking help.
Assets will be available on our campaign resource centre over the next couple of weeks. If you would like printed assets (posters and leaflets) sending to you, please email gmcancer.comms@nhs.net.
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Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is launching a new breast cancer awareness campaign encouraging people to “look and feel” every month. The campaign features women from the Greater Manchester area and encourages people to be vigilant and report any potential signs of breast cancer to their GP. The launch will include advertising in the Manchester Evening News and on the In Your Area and Bolton News, Oldham Times and Bury Times websites as well as social media promotion and work to promote the messages with targeted community groups. The resources will then be used throughout the year and shared with other NHS partners. You can download a screen display to use in your GP practice or print out posters for the campaign as well as access social media messages from the Campaigns Resource Centre.
The campaign is the result of work with five focus groups and aims to particularly target to both women just below breast cancer screening age (40-50) and those just above screening aged (71+) as well as to women from ethnic minorities.
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Individuals living with metastatic cancer report feeling underrepresented in the cancer system compared to those being treated for primary cancer. Metastatic patients within Greater Manchester feel they have specific unmet health needs including health care access, innovative treatment, coordinated care and psychological support.
Health Care Professionals report educational gaps around the signs and symptoms of metastatic disease, lack of clarity over referral pathways and concerns about communicating with and supporting metastatic patients.
In response, Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has developed a dedicated metastatic cancer strategy, which will include metastatic patients in all aspects of the cancer alliance programme of work, expedite pathway improvements and provide metastatic-specific education.
Over the coming months, we will be including education about metastatic disease in our primary care learning events, providing infographics to describe signs and symptoms of metastatic disease in all relevant tumour site pathways, and reviewing cancer referral forms to ensure primary care teams have clarity on referral pathways for patients with suspected metastatic symptoms. Please get involved and ensure that your department, service or practice is engaged with embedding metastatic quality care in everything that we, as a cancer system, do.
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The MENO.pause app (https://www.menopause-app.com/), a digital decision-making aid to help clinicians manage menopause symptoms optimally, is live. Developed at UCLH, it reflects national guidelines, including from NICE and British Menopause Society, and covers several topics:
- Early, natural and complex menopause (including post-cancer)
- High-risk populations (e.g. BRCA mutation carriers)
- HRT use, preparation selection / optimisation
- Managing complications, including unscheduled bleeding
Unscheduled bleeding on HRT pathways are being rolled out nationally to reduce low risk patients being referred onto a cancer pathway. Access on the technology platform Clinibee via iOS, Android and web and it works alongside existing systems, e.g EMIS.
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For the latest updates in Personalised Care, including: End of Treatment Summaries, Cancer Care Reviews, the new Cancer Health and Wellbeing Hub, Talking Therapies and a Genomics Education Event, please click here.
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Challenges in Prostate Cancer Affecting Everyday Practice
Accord invites you to join this interactive, case-based meeting which will delve into real-world challenges in prostate cancer care that impact everyday clinical decision-making. Through engaging case discussions and expert insights, they will explore a range of topics – from treatment decisions and patient management strategies to broader considerations concerning survivorship and care coordination. Designed to reflect the realities of modern practice, this meeting will support in delivering patient-centred care in prostate cancer.
For more information and to register, please click here.
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The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance are pleased to announce a series of educational events aimed at primary care professionals, including general practice, pharmacy, clinical / medical and non-clinical.
The Greater Manchester strategy for early cancer diagnosis has education as a strand of work throughout. The education of our primary care workforce is an essential part of the achievement of the nationally and locally set ambitions for early diagnosis.
The remaining events will cover the following topics:
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Supporting Early Cancer Diagnosis Across the Non-Medical Primary Care Team - Wednesday 22nd October, 12:00-16:30
- Urology, Lower GI, Lung, Gynaecological & Breast - Wednesday 19th November, 09:00-16:00
- Head & Neck and OG - Wednesday 25th March, 12:00-16:30
All events will take place at Kings House Conference Centre, Sidney Street, Manchester, M1 7HB and includes a free lunch.
To register for any of the events, please click here.
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The next Lunch and Learn webinar is on Tuesday 14th October between 13:00-13:50pm focusing on Head and Neck Cancers and will be hosted by Sarah Taylor (GM Cancer Alliance Associate Medical Director for Early Diagnosis) and Tracey Ellis (Head and Neck Pathway Board Clinical Lead).
Topics covered will include:
- The role of primary care
- Symptom recognition
- Interventions and eligibility
- Referral pathways and coordination
In response to feedback, we have made it easier to join the webinars and recipients of this bulletin will receive a Teams invitation. Please accept the invitation if you are attending. You can also join the webinar via the GM Cancer Academy here.
The sessions will be an opportunity to ask questions of the hosts, and these can be sent in advance to: gmcancer.earlydiagnosis-primarycare@nhs.net. To view the previous Lunch and Learn webinars, please visit the GM Cancer Academy website here.
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Poverty is the biggest driver of ill health and early death in Greater Manchester. NHS Greater Manchester is committed to tackling this and since May 2023 has been working in partnership with Resolve Poverty offering free training to staff aimed at exploring the relationship between poverty and health and the steps we can all take to make a difference. The sessions are aimed towards NHS Greater Manchester staff and colleagues employed within Health and Care providers in Greater Manchester.
The training is online with available sessions to attend on Tuesday 18th November and Thursday 4th December, both 10:30-13:30pm. For more information and to register, please click here.
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Read the latest Cancer Keys from GatewayC exploring stomach cancer and the consideration that PPIs could mask red flag symptoms, haematuria management in the cases of suspected bladder or kidney cancers and an overview of the launch for 'Jess's Rule: Three strikes and we rethink' campaign. To view the articles and to sign up for Cancer Keys updates for your inbox, please see below:
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To see the latest information and resources available from Cancer Research UK to support Primary Care, please click the buttons below.
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You Need to Know is a campaign to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and womb cancer. Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance has teamed up with the Eve Appeal to produce A4 posters to download and print to raise awareness of ovarian and womb cancer, social media tiles and leaflets about ovarian cancer. The resources will help people recognise possible symptoms and explain the importance of getting checked by a doctor.
To find out more and view the campaign, please click here.
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CoppaFeel! have a dedicated webpage to support and enable both healthcare professionals and non-clinical staff to promote the breast awareness message. They provide patient information, materials for your waiting room and education resources for all staff to encourage the nation to start checking their chests.
To access these resources, please click here.
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Please click here to view a cervix chart developed to help support cervical sample takers in Primary Care.
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Coming Soon
- Our next PCN Cancer Leads Call will take place on Tuesday 28th October, 13:00-13:30pm.
- The next Quality Improvement session with Dr Joanna Bircher will take place on Tuesday 4th November, 13:00-13:50pm.
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