Publish date: 4 February 2023
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.
CMCA has supported the creation of the Early Detect, Early Protect website for Cheshire and Merseyside, where around 16,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every year and 7,000 are killed by the disease.
By promoting relaxed conversations about cancer screening, how it works and how important it is in finding cancer early, Champs Public Health Collaborative, led by the nine Directors of Public Health and CMCA, hope to bring those numbers down.
With a detailed information toolkit and range of promotional resources, the website https://earlydetectearlyprotect-nhs.co.uk/ has been launched in the week of World Cancer Day on February 5th 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, CMCA’s Associate Director, said: “Community and healthcare professionals are in a unique position to help inform people 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% 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 in Cheshire and Merseyside approximately 30% of people at risk of breast cancer are not attending screenings, along with 40% of those at risk of bowel cancer and 25% of those at risk of cervical cancer.
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 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.