Welcome to our latest news summary featuring updates from across the National Screening Service (NSS). To keep up to date with all of our news, including upcoming events and job opportunities, read our news reports, follow us on X @NSShse, and on LinkedIn.
Part 5 of the Patient Safety Act 2023: screening reviews
The Patient Safety (Notifiable Incidents and Open Disclosure) Act 2023 was commenced this month.
Under Part 5 of the Patient Safety Act 2023, people can request a review of their screening should they develop a cancer after taking part in one of our population screening programmes: BowelScreen, BreastCheck or CervicalCheck.
We have offered screening reviews for some time - BreastCheck has been responding to review requests for many years, and our CervicalCheck programme has been offering cervical screening reviews since April 2023. Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Alan Smith explains how the Act applies to cancer screening in Ireland and our work to offer Part 5 reviews.
Stakeholders welcomed to NSS workshop on cancer screening programmes
Our Health Promotion team hosted a training day on cancer screening programmes on 12 September. Among the attendees were representatives from the National Cancer Control Programme, the Marie Keating Foundation, the Irish Cancer Society and Breakthrough Cancer Research.
Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Laura Heavey gave an overview of how screening works, and our programme managers spoke about their respective screening programmes. Our Health Promotion team presented on our work to improve equity in screening and the tools that can be used to promote screening in different communities.
BreastCheck Statistical Report 2022 published
Earlier this month, we published our 2022 BreastCheck Statistical Report.
The report shows an increase in screening activity in 2022 compared to 2021. We invited 226,553 women for screening in 2022; up from 166,176 in 2021. And there was an increase in the number of women screened in 2022; 155,916 attended their screening appointment, compared to 123,891 in 2021. This is an uptake rate of 70.3%; meeting the programme standard of 70%. The report also shows how COVID-19 continued to impact the delivery of breast screening in 2022.
Learn more about Quality Assurance
We deliver four national population-based screening programmes - for bowel, breast, and cervical cancer, and for diabetic retinopathy in people who have diabetes. Screening programmes must constantly balance the benefits and harms that are a recognised part of population-based screening. Robust and effective quality assurance (QA) is required to help maintain this balance.
Our Head of Quality, Safety and Risk Colette Brett explains the importance of Quality Assurance in our screening programmes, the governance that supports QA and how we work to continuously improve the performance of all parts of the screening pathway.
Developing accessible materials to support people to choose screening
We have completed a five-year project to develop accessible information about our four screening programmes. We worked with Disabled people, disability organisations, advocates, screening participants, and people with unmet literacy needs to co-design this information, which includes easy-to-read and plain English resources, and photo stories.
Senior Health Promotion Officer, Lynn Swinburne, explains how we developed these resources and worked to make sure they meet the needs of our screening participants.
More news in brief
Here is some more news we reported recently:
- Delays to colonoscopy services during COVID-19 did not negatively impact on health outcomes for BowelScreen participants
- Midwife Amy Farrelly highlights the importance of eye screening for women with diabetes who become pregnant
Save the date
We value your feedback - please contact us at: communications@screeningservice.ie