An engaging 12 months This bulletin is also available in Welsh
screening information packs were sent to GP surgeries across Wales 11 training sessions were held across Wales screening information sessions were delivered to workplaces across Wales 139 events were attended or held across Wales Almost 3,000 people were engaged with across Wales 652 press releases were sent to local media and local community newsletters across Wales 129 requests were received for screening information Screening Engagement Team, Public Health Wales, 2017/18
1 About us Welcome to the annual bulletin from the Screening Engagement Team of Public Health Wales Screening Division. This 2017-2018 bulletin highlights the work of the Screening Engagement Team over the past financial year. The Screening Engagement Team is a team of eight people working across Wales, with staff based in Wrexham, Cardiff and Swansea. Inequalities in screening uptake have been shown across Wales, with a drop in the number of people taking part in all of the adult screening programmes, in areas of social deprivation. (All-Wales Annual Report, Screening Division, Public Health Wales, January 2018) The Screening Engagement Team work with many partners across Wales both nationally and locally to raise awareness of the national screening programmes, and to work together to reduce inequalities. The Screening Engagement Team can be contacted here. We welcome correspondence in Welsh. in Welsh. We will will respond respond in Welsh in Welsh without without delay. delay. 3
2 The three years I have Volunteers and champions Screening Division has seven volunteers currently working across Wales. They work within local communities where screening uptake is low, to raise awareness of the adult screening programmes in Wales. The volunteers have made a big contribution over the past 12 months attending more than 48 events and engaging with over 850 people. They have represented our team at workplace health events and staffed information stands in local community settings. Screening champions have also been trained in a variety of settings including workplaces, GP surgeries and communities, such as in the transgender community and learning disability community. During our Screening for Life campaign our champions engaged with almost 600 people. For more information about becoming a volunteer or champion, click here. volunteered with the Screening Division has given me a real buzz. My aim is to inform the public of the vital importance of attending for screening I know only too well how important it is, having been picked up with breast cancer through a routine mammogram. Ann, Volunteer screening volunteers have engaged with 850+ people 48 34 events have been attended by screening volunteers primary care screening champions have been trained across Wales 4
3 Screening for Life campaign The annual Screening for Life campaign was held in July, aimed at raising awareness of our national screening programmes. Engagement activity to support the campaign included offering screening champion training to a number of GP practices in low uptake areas across Wales. A total of 34 champions were trained across Wales. Over the month, these champions engaged with more than 1000 patients, by printing screening messages on repeat prescriptions, having a screening information stand in reception, sending reminder letters, displaying screening messages on electronic monitors and notice boards and chatting to patients face-to-face about screening. Screening Division Staff also supported the campaign by talking to people about the different screening programmes and handing out resources at local clinics. These resources included a new Z Card resource a compact pocket-sized guide, providing basic screening champions engaged with 580+ people during Screening for Life month volunteers engaged with 160+ people during Screening for Life month primary care screening champions engaged with 1,000+ patients during Screening for Life month 5
3 Screening for Life campaign cont. information about all of the screening programmes. The resource is available here. Campaign information including leaflets and posters were distributed across Wales to different partners including charities, workplaces and voluntary organisations; and Facebook and Twitter were used to raise awareness of the campaign. During the month, posts were uploaded every day with 138 new Facebook likes, and a total of 145,764 people saw the Screening for Life posts. GP surgeries across Wales supported our Screening for Life campaign, including Meddgyfa Sarn in Pontyates. 138 likes 145,764 views Daily posts were uploaded onto our S4L facebook page during Screening for Life Month, www. facebook.com/screeningforlife with 138 new likes. A total of 145,764 people saw the posts Communities We engage with a variety of communities including: 6 https://twitter.com/publichealthw www.facebook.com/screeningforlife Transgender Learning disabilities Gypsy and Travellers Sensory loss Physical disability Black and ethnic minorities
4 WAAASP Men s Sheds campaign The team has been working in partnership with Men s Sheds Cymru, who supported the Wales Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme, to raise awareness of AAA screening during September. A total of 35 established Men s Sheds groups received a campaign information pack, and information was included in the organisation s e-newsletter, which was sent to all members across Wales. Campaign information and resources were also shared on the Men s Sheds Facebook page and Twitter feed. A live Question & Answer session was hosted by Men s Sheds Cymru on their Facebook page, which featured staff from Public Health Wales. A video of the live session was broadcast again in the evening via the Men s Sheds Twitter feed. Information about the campaign was included in the Men s Shed electronic newsletter, which was sent to all members across Wales. A link took members to the information on the Men s Sheds Cymru website, and the October edition of the newsletter also carried a link to the Facebook video. The Facebook live session reached more than 1,300 people with the video viewed more than 450 times. 7
5 Tackling barriers Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women aged 35 and under, and coverage in women aged 25-29 has continued to fall since 2012. The number of women in this age group attending for cervical screening is below the Welsh average of 77.8%. The full Cervical Screening annual report is available here. The Screening Engagement team has been working with Cervical Screening Wales on a project to find out what some of the barriers are for younger women being invited for their first cervical screening appointment. The team has worked collaboratively with a number of large employers across Wales, and run focus groups and online surveys aimed at Welsh women aged between 20 and 30, to find out the potential barriers younger women and women from socioeconomically deprived areas face, when attending for their first cervical screening appointment. The team is in the process of compiling a report to highlight the findings. This will be considered by Cervical Screening Wales, and an action plan will be developed to take forward some of the recommendations. 8
6 Programme changes Cervical Screening Wales has been asked by Welsh Government to introduce Human Papillomavirus Primary Screening as the primary screening test in Wales. HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer in 99.7% of cases. You can read more about HPV here. The changes will take place from mid- September 2018 across Wales, with all routine cervical screening samples tested for high types of HPV. Women s experience of having the screening test will remain the same, however screening results will now inform women whether or not they have HPV. Testing for high risk types of HPV is a more effective screening test and will save lives by determining a woman s risk of developing cervical screening earlier. The Screening Engagement Team is involved in supporting the development of new information resources, to help women understand the new way of testing in Wales. Easy read information resources are currently being developed, which will help women to make an informed choice about screening. A leaflet called Having a smear test and testing for a virus called HPV is being developed to explain HPV testing in Wales. The draft leaflet has been developed in partnership with Learning disability Wales. Further engagement with people and organisations from across Wales has also been done. 9
7 Bowel screening Bowel Screening Wales has been asked by Welsh Government to implement a new test in Wales. The new type of bowel screening test is called a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) and it will be simpler to use than the current Faecal Occult Blood test (FOBt). The new test will also be able to detect cancers more reliably and at an earlier stage, and only needs to be completed once, instead of three times, as with the current kit. It is hoped that the new test will increase uptake of bowel screening, which has dropped slightly to 53.5% across Wales. (All Wales Screening Division Annual Report, January 2018) The Screening Engagement Team is currently engaging with service users and other stakeholders to shape the development of the plans to implement the new test. This will be introduced in 2019. 9 out of 10 people will survive bowel cancer if caught early enough www.bowelscreening.wales.nhs.uk Freephone 0800 294 3370 10
8 Service evaluation A service evaluation is currently underway to identify barriers to screening for people with a learning disability and those individuals who support people with a learning disability through screening. The service evaluation is being carried out in different stages which will include working with service users, parents and carers, learning disability professionals and screening staff. The Team has enlisted the help of service users and professionals in the learning disability sector, including People First, Learning Disability Wales, Mirus and Cartrefi Cymru. The results of the project will help the Screening Division to improve the accessibility and acceptability of the services that it offers. If you would like further information on Learning Disability resources, please click here. All Wales People First is one of the organisations helping us with our service evaluation. 11
9 Looking ahead The team continually evaluates its work to ensure that it is delivering the best quality, achieving the highest impact and positive outcomes on service development and public information. Over the next year the team will continue to support the screening programmes with engagement work, focusing on equality around service changes and developments. Alongside this, the team will continue to work with communities and groups where we know that screening uptakes are low, with the aim of helping to reduce health inequalities. 12 April 2018