Be empathetic and sensitive to the fact that they may be worried about their symptoms so try to be as positive as possible, but stress the urgency of going to see their GP to rule out anything more serious.

Always consider how the customer might be feeling, especially given that their symptoms are not going away. You certainly want to avoid causing any panic, so being encouraging and positive will help to ease their fears. Early diagnosis is key to increasing the chance of survival in pancreatic cancer, so making sure customers act on your referral is vital.

Be quite authoritative; tell them that they are purchasing too many indigestion tablets and if they want any more, they will need to book an appointment with their GP.

This would not be helpful to the customer as there is no indication that something else may be causing the symptoms. Although their GP will investigate the symptoms further, the customer may not make the appointment and instead go to another pharmacy to request OTC treatment.

Take them into the consultation room and quietly relay your concerns that they might have symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Reassure them that this may of course not be the case, but they should go and see their GP as soon as possible to rule it out.

Although you would be quite correct in taking them to a quieter area of the pharmacy and encouraging them to see their GP, it may not be appropriate to mention pancreatic cancer, as this will no doubt worry the customer even more.

Sell them the indigestion tablets one final time to see if they make a difference but stress that they need to come back to the pharmacy if the symptoms are not relieved within a week.

If you have any initial concerns about their symptoms, it is best not to delay referral. Remember that early diagnosis is vital in increasing the chance of survival in pancreatic cancer.