A new website to support healthcare and community professionals in starting conversations about screening for breast, bowel and cervical cancers with people living in Cheshire and Merseyside has been launched.
Every year, around 16,000 people are diagnosed with cancer across Cheshire and Merseyside and 7,000 are killed by the disease in the subregion. But by promoting relaxed conversations about how screening works, Cheshire and Merseyside’s Directors of Public Health, working with the Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance, hope to bring those numbers down.
With a detailed information toolkit and range of promotional resources, Early Detect Early Protect has been created to educate and empower everyone from GPs to community nurses, community professionals and volunteers so they can start more early conversations about screening with the people they see every day.
With a detailed information toolkit and range of promotional resources, Early Detect Early Protect has been created to educate and empower everyone from GPs to community nurses, community professionals and volunteers so they can start more early conversations about screening with the people they see every day.
The aim of the website is to help thousands more people make informed choices about the screening options available to them and help save lives.
Tracey Wright, Associate Director at the Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance, said:
“Community and healthcare professionals are in a unique position to help inform people in our subregion about their cancer risks and the screening available to them. But we understand that starting those conversations isn’t going to be easy for everyone. The new toolkit and website should make sure anyone, regardless of their role, has the resources and confidence to boost the conversation about screening.”
Sarah Johnson-Griffiths, Public Health Consultant at Halton Council, leading the cancer screening programme on behalf of the Champs Public Health Collaborative’s Directors of Public Health, said:
“Catching cancer early saves lives. Routine screening is currently offered for breast cancer, bowel cancer and cervical cancer and if we can detect it and start treatment early, it’s more likely to work – and more people will survive.
“For many types of cancer, screening is the only way to identify the early warning signs that cancerous cells may soon develop. We know a lot of people can become anxious about screening and would like to reassure those concerned that the earlier we can detect any issues, if there are any at all, the earlier we can protect individuals.”
Mammogram X-ray tests can spot cancers too small to see or feel and while cervical cancer is the 14th most common cancer in females in the UK, research from 2015 indicates that 99.8 per cent of cases are preventable. However, some people are unsure what screening involves or miss their routine appointment, increasing the risk that a condition will develop undetected.
Research shows that approximately 30 per cent of people at risk of breast cancer are not attending screenings, along with 40 per cent of those at risk of bowel cancer and 25 per cent of those at risk of cervical cancer in Cheshire and Merseyside.
A conversation with the right person at the right time can therefore make all the difference and speaking to a trusted member of the healthcare profession can grow understanding and public awareness of a subject many of us try to avoid.
The new website www.earlydetectearlyprotect-nhs.co.uk contains a range of information and resources for healthcare and community professionals to help start the discussion on and offline with members of the public, and will be supported by a social media campaign.