The Improvement Foundation - Helping Tackle The Decline In Cervical Cancer Screening Uptake

Main Category: Cervical Cancer / HPV Vaccine
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 07 Jun 2009 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Cervical Cancer Awareness Week 8-14 June 2009 is a key time to remind women that it is of huge importance that they attend their screening appointment when asked. The Improvement Foundation (IF) aim to help tackle the decline in screening uptake by addressing levels of complacency among clinicians and the public through their national Cervical Screening Improvement Programme.

With the uptake of cervical screening dropping across all age groups, the biggest fall being in the 25-34s, IF is working with frontline staff, at sites across the country, to support improvements in the cervical screening service in general practice and primary care trusts and achieve large scale change.

This is done by improving the systems and processes already in place, addressing the barriers to screening and raising awareness amongst staff and patients. IF believes that it is necessary to tackle all these aspects to achieve lasting change, and to address some of the reasons why younger women in particular are not responding to the offer of tests.

The work being carried out by IF is part of a fifteen month structured programme, commissioned by the Department of Health, to introduce lasting changes which will improve women's experience of the way cervical screening is offered.

The IF Cervical Screening Improvement Programme brings together people involved across the cervical screening pathway from GPs to reception staff, and practice managers to public health specialists. For some, this is the first time the team has come together, allowing them to share and understand the barriers faced by their local communities and identify effective local resources to raise knowledge and awareness of the importance of cervical screening with the target age group.

Cervical screening saves lives, the lives of young women, many of them mothers of young children. IF is committed to making a difference in the numbers of 25-34 year olds who are screened.

For more information about the Cervical Screening Improvement Programme please visit http://www.improvementfoundation.org/cervicalscreening

Source
The Improvement Foundation