one stating that there is evidence that this will increase However, one ‘no uptake’. screening area is testing evening and weekend appointments and stated that the evening appointments are well attended thus far. In addition, several suggested more work is required to encourage local employers to become more flexible, allowing for screening appointments to be taken within working hours. need some serious engagement with employers they often let women take paid “We – don’t leave to attend screening this is – unacceptable” Screening and Immunisation coordinator 3.8 Marketing and promotion of breast cancer screening 3.8.1 General Promotion The questionnaire asked all the respondents well they thought breast cancer ‘how screening was promoted and publicised across Greater This was asked on Manchester?’. a scale of 1-5. Respondents were fairly evenly divided in opinion, with 38% giving a high rating suggesting it was and 35% providing a low rating, very well ‘well promoted’ ‘not As the chart below shows, current participators (46%) and first timers (45%) promoted’. were significantly more likely to state breast screening was well publicised than participators (29%). Figure 5: Respondents rating breast cancer screening promotion highly Source: NHS Greater Manchester Breast Cancer Screening Survey. Base 112 – In contrast when this question was posed to the the general focus group attendees, consensus across all the groups was that breast screening very well publicised wasn’t (regardless of whether they participated or not). Many went on further to highlight campaigns for other cancers or screening they had seen advertised more widely such as; prostate and bowel cancer. cancer is like the new kid on the “Bowel block…” Non-participator, Bolton think its advertised that well you never see anything anywhere, you get a letter “I don’t – through the door and that’s it” Participator, Stockport Within the interviews with the women with learning disabilities similar responses were evident. Other than receiving the invite letter, these women were generally unaware of whether or how Greater Manchester promoted breast screening.
one stating that there is ‘no evidence that this will increase uptake’. However, one screening area is testing evening and weekend appointments and stated that the evening appointments are well attended thus far. In addition, several suggested more work is required to encourage local employers to become more flexible, allowing for screening appointments to be taken within working hours. “We need some serious engagement with employers – they often don’t let women take paid leave to attend screening – this is unacceptable” Screening and Immunisation coordinator 3.8 Marketing and promotion of breast cancer screening 3.8.1 General Promotion The questionnaire asked all the respondents ‘how well they thought breast cancer screening was promoted and publicised across Greater Manchester?’. This was asked on a scale of 1-5. Respondents were fairly evenly divided in opinion, with 38% giving a high rating suggesting it was ‘well promoted’ and 35% providing a low rating, ‘not very well promoted’. As the chart below shows, current participators (46%) and first timers (45%) were significantly more likely to state breast screening was well publicised than (29%). Figure 5: Respondents rating breast cancer screening promotion highly Source: NHS Greater Manchester – Breast Cancer Screening Survey. Base 112 In contrast when this question was posed to the focus group attendees, the general consensus across all the groups was that breast screening wasn’t very well publicised (regardless of whether they participated or not). Many went on further to highlight campaigns for other cancers or screening they had seen advertised more widely such as; prostate and bowel cancer. “Bowel cancer is like the new kid on the block…” Non-participator, Bolton “I don’t think its advertised that well – you never see anything anywhere, you get a letter through the door and that’s it” Participator, Stockport Within the interviews with the women with learning disabilities similar responses were evident. Other than receiving the invite letter, these women were generally unaware of whether or how Greater Manchester promoted breast screening. participators