Welcome

With the continuing developments and advances made in the understanding of the Human Genome, clinical genetics has become very relevant for General Practice.

The implications for primary care practice include a better understanding of the genetic basis of diseases such as cancer, reproductive medicine, diabetes and heart disease and therefore the potential for intervention. This includes managing patients with genetic disorders, screening advice, genetic testing and dealing with ethical dilemmas in practice.

The aim of the Primary Care Genetics Society (PCGS) is to support and facilitate the educational needs of PCPs to help translate the continuing advances in clinical genetics into practice.

We are pleased to see a paper published in BJGP recently which is co-authored by Profesor Anneke Lucassen, one of the members of the PCGS Executive Council. The paper by Westwood et al (BJGP March 2012) reports on a cluster-randomised trial of 73 General Practices. The findings of the paper advocate a primary care based service led by a Genetics Counsellor to improve referral rates with regard to patients with moderate to high risk of cancer. This paper will be of interest to primary care commissioners, and and further details can be found by clicking here.