RCGP eLearning Podcast

In 2024 there were 3,043 new HIV diagnoses in the UK, this is a 4% decrease from 3,169 diagnoses in 2023; while in England, new HIV diagnoses decreased by 2% from 2,838 in 2023 to 2,773 in 2024.
In this podcast Dr Thomas Round talks to Dr Shrey Mathur, an academic GP in East London and researcher at Queen Mary University of London with an interest in HIV early diagnosis, about HIV and the role of primary care. They reflect on what HIV is, its historical context and the changes in diagnosis, treatment and management and the need to move away from potential bias within specific populations/at risk groups for testing and ways to reduce the stigma. 
They discuss when to test in primary care including thresholds and managing positive results, transfer of care to specialist services and communication between the two, coding patient records accordingly around medications, the use of Post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and long-acting injectables. They also offer top tips for everyday practice and signpost to useful resources.
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References:

People First Charter

HIV Lens

Liverpool HIV Drug Interactions Tool

British HIV Association (BHIVA)

NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary: HIV infection and AIDS

NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary: HIV infection - treatment.

Resources:

RCGP eLearning course on Contraception

RCGP eLearning course on Sexual health

RCGP eLearning course on Sexual and reproductive needs of the LGBTQ+ community.

It is estimated that there are almost 3.5 million people living with cancer in the UK and on average someone is diagnosed with cancer at least every 75 seconds (UK). In this podcast Dr Thomas Round talks to Professor Willie Hamilton, a Professor of Primary Care Cancer Research about the updates to cancer detection in primary care. They reflect on why primary care is so important in this area, the changing epidemiology in cancer and cancer in younger people including the increase in colorectal cancer. They discuss the changes in cancer screening e.g. cervical cancer (introduction of home screening) and bowel cancer (age reduction and Faecal immunochemical test (FIT) thresholds), Positive Predictive Value (PPV), symptomatic presentations, difficult to diagnose cancers and atypical presentations. They also offer top tips for everyday practice and signpost to useful resources.
RCGP Podcast Feedback
Your feedback plays a crucial role in helping us improve the CPD products and services we offer. We would be grateful if you could please complete our short RCGP Podcast Survey, which will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
References

Best4: Screening for oesophageal health problems

NHS Galleri Trail: Detecting cancer early

Jess’s Rule: Three strikes and we rethink

ERICA Study. Prof. Willie Hamilton

Save T, Neal R D, Round T. A multi-cancer early detection (MCED) test: clinical update for GPs. British Journal of General Practice 2024; 74 (745): 380-382. 

Wiering B, Mounce LTA, Price SJ, et al. The impact of morbidity burden on cancer diagnosis; a retrospective cohort study in England. Cancer Epidemiol. 2026 Feb 27;102:103027. 

Further reading
RCGP eLearning courses on:

Behaviour change and cancer prevention

Bloating and Other Abdominal Symptoms: Could it be Ovarian Cancer?

Breast Cancer Screening - The Essentials

Cancer detection in primary care

Colorectal Cancer

Early diagnosis of cancer in young adults

Lung Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer: Early Diagnosis in General Practice

Primary cancer care toolkit

Prostate Cancer: Early Diagnosis in General Practice

Cancer care | One Day Essentials | REWIND (available until 26.05.26)

Respiratory disease, including infections, affects one in five people in England and is the third biggest cause of death, with around 68,000 annual deaths.
In this podcast Dr Thomas Round talks to Professor Paul Little, a GP and Professor of Primary Care Research at the University of Southampton about respiratory tract infections. They provide a discussion on the common presentations to primary care including symptoms and their duration, natural history, assessment (triage), red flags, treatment including best practice for the use of antibiotics (NNT and NNH, TARGET toolkit), point of care testing (CRP), the use of nasal sprays, encouraging at risk groups to receive vaccinations, continuation of hand washing, and the impact of stress on illness. They also offer top tips for everyday practice.
RCGP Podcast Feedback
Your feedback plays a crucial role in helping us improve the CPD products and services we offer. We would be grateful if you could please complete our short RCGP Podcast Survey, which will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
Further reading:

RCGP Essential Knowledge Update Hot Topic: Nasal sprays and behavioural interventions compared with usual care for acute respiratory illness in primary care

RCGP TARGET antibiotics toolkit hub

Little P, Vennik J, Rumsby K, et al. Nasal sprays and behavioural interventions compared with usual care for acute respiratory illness in primary care: a randomised, controlled, open-label, parallel-group trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2024 Aug;12(8):619-632. 

Little P, Stuart B, Andreou P, et al. Primary care randomised controlled trial of a tailored interactive website for the self-management of respiratory infections (Internet Doctor). BMJ Open. 2016 Apr 20;6(4): e009769.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) affects approximately 1 in 20 people in the UK, equating to around 3.2 million individuals, though some estimates suggest up to 1 in 5 adults experience symptoms, with potentially even more not seeking medical help. It's a common digestive disorder, more prevalent in women, often starting in the 20s or 30s.
In this podcast Dr Thomas Round speaks to Dr Kevin Barrett, a GP in Hertfordshire with a special interest in gastroenterology in primary care, about the prevalence, symptoms, diagnostic criteria, treatment and management of IBS and offers top tips for primary care practice!
RCGP Podcast Feedback
Your feedback plays a crucial role in helping us improve the CPD products and services we offer. We would be grateful if you could please complete our short RCGP Podcast Survey, which will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
For more information please see:

RCGP eLearning course on Inflammatory Bowel Disease

RCGP eLearning course on Holistic care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease

RCGP eLearning course on the Diagnosis and management of coeliac disease and its immunological comorbidities

RCGP Essential Knowledge Update module on the Management of irritable bowel syndrome

RCGP Essential Knowledge Update module on the Management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease

Primary care consultations can be challenging for a number of reasons. In this podcast, Dr. Ed Pooley discusses the key skill of relationship building within general practice and how this can be achieved with a variety of consultation techniques. He addresses issues of raised emotions within consultations, how to recover a consultation which is going badly, and the key skill of housekeeping as it refers to GP consultations. The podcast also discusses how consultation skills might change over the course of a career and the importance of recognising issues which can or can’t be resolved within general practice.

RCGP Podcast Feedback
Your feedback plays a crucial role in helping us improve the CPD products and services we offer. We would be grateful if you could please complete our short RCGP Podcast Survey, which will take no more than 5 minutes to complete.