Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in the UK resulting in more than 33,500 deaths in 2008, 4,000 more than for bowel and breast cancer combined. Five-year survival figures are poor but have recently improved from around 5% to 7.5% in men and 8.5% in women.There is evidence of marked variation in the standard of care in England.  It has recently been shown that if patients are first referred to a thoracic surgical centre, rather than a hospital that does not have thoracic surgeons on site, they are 51% more likely to have a resection. There are similar findings for other active treatments. By reducing this variation there is scope for marked improvement in outcomes, possibly to levels seen in other countries such as Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway where five-year survival rates are approximately double. Thus there is a need to encourage lung cancer teams to select patients correctly so that the best treatment can be offered. Improving diagnosis, staging and fitness assessment was a major focus in the recently updated NICE guideline on diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, published in April 2011. 

In the UK, after a century of declining incidence, over the past 20 years numbers of cases of active TB have increased substantially. This increase has occurred almost exclusively in individuals born outside the UK. GPs represent the first point of contact with health services for most patients, and it is crucial that GPs are aware of the clinical features of active TB, and that diagnosis can frequently be made using simple and inexpensive tests such as chest X-rays and sputum samples. There is a major focusin the UK on raising awareness of TB in frontline medical staff, through the activities of bodies such as the charity TB Alert, and the Department of Health’s National Knowledge Service TB Project At a local level, information and advice can readily be obtained through the local TB nursing service.

Diagnosis, management and delivery of care for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains an important issue for clinicians. COPD accounts for more than 10% of emergency hospital admissions. The 2008 National COPD Audit showed that the 90-day mortality rate after a COPD hospitalisation was 13.9% and almost one in three patients discharged from hospital were readmitted within three months. Over the past decade a huge number of publications have strengthened the evidence base which is the foundation for COPD management while the development of a National Clinical Strategy for COPD and the 2010 update to the NICE COPD guidelines should help implementation of an evidence-based approach to management. At the time of writing (November 2010) the consultation phase of the National Clinical Strategy had been completed but no publication date had been set.

Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) refers to a wide range of acute illnesses that affect the upper respiratory tract. URTIs are the most common reason for general practice consultations. On average adults suffer two to three such infections per year. Most URTIs are self-managed. A UK study of 516 women aged 20-44 years found that only one in 18 episodes of sore throat led to a general practice consultation. Patients who do seek consultations often benefit from reassurance, education and instructions for symptomatic home treatment. A large proportion of antibiotic prescribing in primary care is for respiratory tract infections. There was a 44% reduction in antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections between 1994 and 2000. The larger part of this reduction was due to lower consultation rates rather than a decrease in prescribing by GPs. Antibiotics are frequently prescribed for resolving symptoms and to prevent complications. Patients' expectations have a significant influence on prescribing, even when their doctor judges that antibiotics are not indicated.There are certain at-risk groups who require immediate antibiotics or further evaluation.

Lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) is a common cause of consultation in primary care. In 2004, approximately 5% of the population consulted their GP about LRTI at least once during the year, a rate comparable with those reported by previous UK studies.

In OSA, the patient suffers repeated episodes of apnoea caused by narrowing or closure of the pharyngeal airway during sleep. About 2-4% of the middle-aged population have OSA. Although understanding of the condition has improved considerably, it is estimated that 85-90% of sufferers still remain undiagnosed.

Asthma affects around 5.2 million people in the UK. There are more than 4.1 million GP consultations for asthma each year and every GP will see patients with respiratory symptoms who may have asthma, or have been diagnosed with asthma but continue to have ongoing problems.  Approximately 1,400 patients with asthma die each year in the UK, which equates to around one death every seven hours. Confidential enquiries into asthma deaths have repeatedly shown that patients and relatives often fail to appreciate the severity of symptoms, while clinical staff may fail to assess severity by objective measurements. Underuse of iv or oral steroids is also a common factor.

More than 27,000 people die from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) each year in the UK. It is estimated that there are around 1.5 million adults with COPD, thus a GP practice with approximately 7,000 patients will have up to 200 patients with COPD on its practice list.

Around 100 million people in Europe and North America have asthma,^1,2 equating to 6% of adults and 10% of children. In the UK, approximately 5.2 million patients (1.1 million children and 4.1 million adults) are currently receiving treatment for asthma and eight million have been diagnosed with asthma at some stage in their lives. The UK currently has the highest frequency of self-reported asthma symptoms among children aged 13-14 years in the world.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is becoming a chronic disease of adults rather than a fatal disease of childhood. One in 2,500 newborn babies are affected by CF, giving a UK population of around 7,000 patients. Median survival is currently 34 years but has been increasing every year, with recent data suggesting that someone born with CF in 2000 can be expected to live into their fifties or sixties.

The prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) has increased dramatically around the world over the past decade.With population mobility on a scale never seen before, major cities in the UK and other relatively prosperous countries are reflecting the trends of disease in the wider world. In addition, there has been an increase in TB in some groups within the UK population and an increase in the dispersal of immigrants and asylum seekers to parts of the country that historically have had little experience of such populations. As a consequence, most GPs, wherever they practise, are more likely to see a case of TB in the next year than at any time in their past career. Nearly 8,200 cases of TB were reported in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in 2006. London accounted for the highest proportion of cases (42%) and the Midlands the second highest (12%). In 2005, TB was responsible for 357 deaths in the UK.