Main Study

We have been fantastically supported by colleagues in the CRNs and Cancer Alliances and are delighted at the level of interest we have received from practices across all of England. Recruitment has now closed and we have 477 practices signed up to the trial, making this the biggest trial of cancer risk tools in the UK!

The main study is now in its two-year data collection phase. Each practice’s contribution will be vitally important in helping the ERICA trial team determine the clinical effectiveness of cancer electronic Risk Assessment Tools (eRATs) in diagnosing cancer earlier (stages 1 and 2). Intervention practices will actively be using the cancer risk tools each day, fulfilling the DES cancer directive and with the full support of NHS England and NHS Improvement. Control practices will continue providing their usual care and refraining from using electronic decision support tools for cancer such as Qcancer.

At the end of this 2-year period, March 2024, we will receive data from the Cancer registry and will then be able to see if the eRATs are clinically effective.

Nested Studies

Whilst the main study progresses, as of January 2023, we are now recruiting for two nested studies.

Patient Interviews (Process Evaluation)

We are interested to learn about the patient experience of care following an eRAT (electronic Risk Assessment Tool) prompt and plan to recruit 12-18 patients across England. We are looking for existing ERICA Trial practices (intervention arm only) to help us identify potential participants.

Practices will need to run an eRAT report to generate a list of potential participants and patients who have been referred for tests or investigations will be eligible. In liaison with the research team the practice will perform a mailout to those named on the list. Full instructions on how to perform the report and all patient materials (info sheets, consent forms, consent to contact forms, etc) will be provided.

Payment £197.25 (consisting of Research payment: £88.35 and SSC payment: £108.90)

Patient Questionnaire (Health Economics)

In this nested study we are interested to learn about patient’s use of health care services. We are looking for existing ERICA Trial practices, both intervention and control, to help us identify potential participants and we plan to recruit 28 practices and 140 patients from each of the two trial arms and expect to recruit about 5 patients per practice.

Intervention Practices will need to run an eRAT report and Control Practices a database search to generate a list of potential participants. Full instructions on how to perform the report/database search will be provided. Patients who have been referred for tests or investigations will be eligible. In liaison with the research team the practice will perform a mailout to those named on the list. All patient materials (info sheets, consent forms, consent to contact forms, etc) will be provided. It may be necessary to run this search on three separate occasions, depending on the recruitment rate.

Payment £197.25 (consisting of Research Payment: £88.35 and SSC payment: £108.90)

This is the cost for running each search. This amount will be paid on up to three occasions.

If your practice is interested in participating in these nested studies, please email the trial team: erica@exeter.ac.uk