Cancer screenings

WQ.329/2021

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. JOHN

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 5th JULY 2021

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 12th JULY 2021

Question

Will the Minister advise –

1. the total number of cancer screenings per month for the years 2018 to 2021;
2. the total number of appointments for cancer treatments that were delayed, deferred, missed, or cancelled per month for the years 2018 to 2021;
3. what action, if any, is being undertaken to encourage people to attend screenings; and
4. what action, if any, is being undertaken to increase capacity to cope with any backlog?

Answer

Cervical Cancer screening (smears)

Cervical screening is available to women aged 25 – 64 years at their GP surgery or at Le Bas centre free of charge. They are recommended to attend every 3 years.

Bowel Screening

The Bowel screening programme in Jersey to date has been a flexible sigmoidoscopy which is offered to members of the public in their 60th year. This is an invasive procedure that requires significant preparation on the part of the patient and post-Covid, patients were also asked to self- isolate prior to this in keeping with other planned procedures. As we emerged from the 1st wave of Covid, screening endoscopy sessions recommenced, but at a lesser capacity due to impact of infection control measures to reduce transmission of Covid and the required time therefore in between patients. Many patients who were invited for a bowel screen declined due to the reasons above.

In addition, due to patients with symptoms (therefore not screening) requiring the same procedure, clinic capacity has been prioritised for these islanders that have symptoms of higher clinical risk rather than those people needing a flexible sigmoidoscopy for a screening purpose alone. Additional endoscopy capacity has been commissioned as part of a Covid recovery bid and will support access to both symptomatic and screening appointments in 2021. A new model of bowel screening currently in the planning stages, which is in place in other jurisdictions such as Guernsey and the UK, will allow us to offer bowel screening to more islanders for the future and support the recovery process from Covid. This is expected to commence in the autumn. This is a home test rather than an invasive hospital procedure and offers comparable rates of cancer detection and should ultimately support a wider uptake of bowel screening by the public.

Breast screening

2018  2019  2020

ntments for cancer treatments that were delayed, deferred, missed, or

cancelled per month for the years 2018 to 2021;

These figures are not available. However, while the Covid pandemic brought challenges for all and oncological treatments were deferred/ cancelled and even stopped within the NHS, locally no patient's plan of treatment was deferred or stopped, with the exception of a few supportive therapies that would not affect patient outcomes.

2. what action, if any, is being undertaken to encourage people to attend screenings; Health promotion activity is undertaken throughout the year, which includes the distribution of a range of publications/posters for both healthcare professionals and patients/public describing the available services in regard to cancer screening and how the public can access these. This information is also available in Polish & Portuguese. This year, this has included some newly produced easy-read versions to support persons living with learning disabilities/difficulties. Information is also available on the gov.je website, which has recently been updated. Health promotion staff attend Closer to Home events to advertise these services in the community e.g. parish halls. In addition, workplace sessions are delivered e.g. well women' and well men' events.

There is an increased focus on different cancer screenings on particular days throughout the year, in tandem with international campaigns such as cervical cancer screening week in June, breast cancer month in October, cervical cancer prevention week in January, and HPV awareness day and colorectal cancer awareness month in March.

Post-Covid, a business case was submitted to Treasury for recovery monies to increase our normal screening capacity to allow more people to come forward who were affected by the interim cessation of cancer screening during Covid. To promote this additional capacity, there has been increased activity across social media platforms and a radio campaign.

3. and what action, if any, is being undertaken to increase capacity to cope with any backlog?

A business case is being developed to implement a new model for bowel screening. This will allow us to screen more patients for bowel cancer as the home test approach will support both the reduction of the backlog and also provide increased capacity in the future.

In the autumn of 2020, when restrictions eased and non-emergency clinical contact could resume, additional funds were requested and secured for cervical cancer screening. The impact of this is shown below in Q4 2020, where more smears were delivered than in previous years, a result of more members of the public coming forward for screening and the capacity being available to deliver that activity.