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 attracted more than 1,800 visitors since launching in January this year.
With a detailed information toolkit and range of promotional resources, Early Detect Early Protect has been created by the Collaborative 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.
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.
Please do visit the website and share with your colleagues and networks.