Exploring Breast Referral Behaviours in Primary Care

Exploratory, cross-sectional, retrospective semi-structured interview and focus group study across multi-centres. Objectives: * To find out about the factors women perceive as those which hindered and/or facilitated participants' referral to a breast clinic for further investigation, and how and why the female patients believe these occurred. * To look at improvements/changes the participants believe could be implemented to improve the related management of their health, particularly from a medical education perspective. Settings: Interviews/focus groups will be held online wherever possible using the following to reach potential participants: * New referral clinics at the Nottingham Breast Institute at Nottingham City Hospital * NIHR 'research initiative site' GP practices across the East Midlands which elect to get involved as participant identification centres; and * The funder's (CoppaFeel!) digital communications channels and those of its ambassadors/social media influencers to reach potential participants. Number of participants: Up to 40 participants may be recruited but the concept of information power will be used to inform actual sample size. The participants will be women who have been to see their GP with breast-related health issues/symptoms. Interventions: * Requesting responses to related medical history/status and demographic questions in advance of the related substantive interview or focus group discussion (once per participant) - approx. 30 mins * One online semi-structured interview or focus group discussion per participant - approx. 1 hour. Duration of study: * Overall: six months (to start soon as all necessary approvals are in place) * Per participant: up to three months. Method of analysis: Data collected will be examined using inductive thematic analysis. This analytical approach allows themes, patterns and meanings to be generated from the data, and in the process, help identify factors which participants perceive as helping or hindering their breast referral to secondary care among patients and primary care healthcare professionals; and why, and how, these occurred.