Our nursing team at PCS|Practices have been praised for their innovative work to improve the uptake of cervical screening.
Cervical Screening is one of the best ways of preventing cervical cancer and is available to women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 in England. All eligible people who are registered with a GP (as female) automatically receive an invitation by mail. cervical screening uptake has been found to be lower in more deprived areas like those served by our practices.
Our nursing team worked alongside a behavioural science and our in-house translators to increase uptake. The team changed the practice recall letter, translating it into Urdu and Bengali. The team then decided on a drop in approach and set up a weekly drop in. They also worked with social prescribers, spreading the word of the weekly drop-in sessions, and offered education and discussions with ladies in this drop-in time to build trust and provide support and education.
“The smear drop in is such a good idea, it takes the pressure away from needing to call the surgery and make an appointment, I can just attend when it is convenient for me. I’ve told all my family about it.”
Patient testimony August 2022
“The drop in is great for patient’s -they know an interpreter will be available if needed and can turn up any time in a 2-hour period. I’m always promoting it to patients”
Social prescribing team member.
We increased our non-attender uptake by 24% and overall uptake by 32.7% in the first year and by over 10% in the following year. Out of the non-attenders, 10% of these were referred to colposcopy.