Breast cancer screening

The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is a validated survey developed by Kings University, UCL and Cancer Research UK. The CAM was carried out in North Tyneside in winter 2021 with over 400 individuals surveyed, making up a representative sample of the borough population. The CAM covers awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, factors affecting making an appointment, risk factors for cancers and awareness of the cancer screening programmes.

This data shows that awareness is lowest amongst the routine manual and non-working population which mirrors national evidence of breast screening awareness and uptake.

The geographical variation in awareness is also worth noting, a high awareness of the programme in the Whitley Bay area is to be expected given the above average historical uptake seen there (Table 1). The awareness of the programme is perhaps higher than expected in North Shields (more deprivation than borough average and previously average screening uptake) but may be explained by the breast screening service inviting women from this area in the weeks before the survey was carried out. Less easily explained is the lower awareness of the breast screening programme in Killingworth considering the historically high uptake of the screening programme in this area (Table 1).

Healthwatch North Tyneside began seeking feedback on the breast screening service in June 2022. Within the first week, they received over 200 responses, with over 300 responses in total. The findings of this survey were published by Healthwatch North Tyneside in November 2022. The results were presented to the Cancer Prevention Network.

Highlights and key findings are:

• Most people were grateful for the screening programme and felt the process ran smoothly, with clear accessible information and kind, reassuring and efficient staff
• Where people experienced challenges they tended to be with the venue/ location, particularly the inconvenience of the location for public transport and lack of and cost of parking 
• The other challenge that people experienced was with the booking process, with the phone line and online system not working well for all

The Healthwatch North Tyneside Report goes on to suggest some actions, for the local and national system:

1. Continue to remain open and responsive to feedback
2. Continue with timed appointments at first contact
3. Enable data sharing for accurate coordination between the Service, GP practices and Public Health to ensure residents are not contacted unnecessarily
4. Review the location of the screening unit going forward
5. Review the resource capacity of the booking line for a consistent service
6. Invest in an online booking system as exists elsewhere
7. Improve the practical information that is provided at time of appointment invitation
8. Continue to support the staff teams who are providing excellent care
9. Alter the point of invitation from the GP trigger to individuals due date

Improve the availability of screening information, particularly on the ability to opt in after the age of 70 The Healthwatch North Tyneside Report give us insight to how the service is providing an excellent service to most residents and how the system challenges are impacting the experience of some residents.