More women are requesting cervical cancer screenings thanks to a pilot project run in GP surgeries.
The project, organised by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, has seen adverts placed in surgeries in areas with low-screening uptake to remind women of the importance of getting tested.
The Department of Health funded pilot evaluated the benefits of placing the adverts in these areas and analysed whether they could increase screening rates.
The advert let women know that cervical cancer can be prevented and that screening invitations are crucial.
It was placed in 100 surgeries over a six-week period. When asked, “Since the campaign went live on your screens has your practice seen a rise in patients requesting Cervical Screening?” 43 of the 46 surgeries that responded (93%) said they noticed a positive difference in the numbers of women asking to be screened during the period – with 23% noticing an increase of 10-25% and 69% noticing an increase of 0-10%.
Robert Music, director or Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, said: “We are now looking to test the potential of this project on a larger scale by running a further pilot in up to 300 surgeries over a six-month period. We believe this would provide the opportunity for more in-depth evaluation as to the long-term benefits of placing cervical screening adverts in GP waiting rooms, but so far it looks very promising.”
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