The report (Document “T”) of the West Yorkshire Screening and Immunisation Team provides an update on the progress with regard to the uptake and coverage of screening and immunisation programmes in the Bradford locality through partnership working.

Recommended –

That the Committee note:

(1)       The report and the on-going work to support and promote the NHS England commissioned screening and immunisation programmes within the Bradford area.

(2)       That Bradford MDC continues to engage and assurances are given to the  Director of Public Health in relation to commissioned screening and immunisation programmes which are sought through local operational groups, programme boards and West Yorkshire Screening & Immunisation Oversight Group.

(Kate Horsfall – 01132 8252703)

The report (Document “T”) of the West Yorkshire Screening and Immunisation Team provided an update on the progress with regard to the uptake and coverage of screening and immunisation programmes in the Bradford locality through partnership working.

A brief summary of the report was provided, highlighting the governance arrangements.  It was reported that trends outlined in the report for Bradford were mirrored regionally and were not unique to the district; work was on-going with the communications team to promote screening and immunisation through the media to increase uptake of the programmes.  It was stressed that the Screening and Immunisation programmes were unique in that they invited healthy people for a screening test, often invasive, which would tell them whether or not they had a disease. 

A Member commented that the uptake of bowel and cervical screenings was low and questioned whether the team were speaking to people about why they were not getting screened.  In response, it was explained that feedback was sought locally and nationally on this matter and information in the leaflets which went out to people inviting them to make an appointment for these screenings were being simplified as an outcome, in order for the process to be easier to understand.

In response to Members questions, it was reported that:

·         Awareness training was provided for carers e.g. how to complete the bowel screening kit.

·         The communications team were working with the national campaign to raise awareness at a local level to increase the uptake of screenings.

·         The decline in cervical screening rates in Bradford was mirrored nationally.  Some of the barriers e.g. access hours were being addressed with GPs.

·         It was acknowledged that some people would fear going for a screening and approaches were taken to try to make people feel at ease e.g. explanation in the leaflets, informing then they could be accompanied and trying to ensure they saw the same person on their screening care pathway.

·         Many compliments were received from patients following their appointments with the specialist screening practitioners and any complaints received were looked at in detail with the clinicians.

·         Breast screening was the only programme that would include a genetics pathway; it would be accessed through the GP and individuals screened yearly.

A Member thanked officers for the work undertaken in her ward (Manningham) and suggested the targeting of local gyms in the area to try to increase BME bowel screening uptake rates.  Officers agreed to feed this back to Screening and Immunisation Co-ordinators.

The Chair thanked the officers for the report.

Resolved –

(1)       That the report and the on-going work to support and promote the NHS England commissioned screening and immunisation programmes within the Bradford area be noted.

(2)       That the Committee notes that Bradford Council continues to engage and assurances are given to the  Director of Public Health in relation to commissioned screening and immunisation programmes which are sought through local operational groups, programme boards and West Yorkshire Screening & Immunisation Oversight Group.

(3)       That performance on an on-going basis be monitored through the Public Health Outcomes Framework report which is submitted annually to this Committee.

ACTION: Overview and Scrutiny Lead Officer