Welcome to our latest news summary featuring updates from the National Screening Service. To keep up to date with our news, including upcoming events and job opportunities, read our news reports, follow us on X @NSShse, LinkedIn, and on Bluesky @nsshse.
BreastCheck achieves re-accreditation from EUREF
Our BreastCheck programme has received re-certification from the European Reference Organisation (EUREF) for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services. Level 4 certification is the highest level of accreditation and it provides independent external reassurance of the high quality of our BreastCheck programme.
The EUREF team visited our Eccles Unit in Dublin from 13 to 15 March. The team met radiography and radiology representatives from our four units, examined our epidemiology and physics data, and attended a live online multidisciplinary meeting with our Southern Unit.
BreastCheck Clinical Director Dr Alissa Connors said: “Obtaining certification with EUREF supports public confidence in our breast screening programme. Our screening participants and our staff benefit from the independent reassurance that our programme is working to a high standard.”
Trauma-informed approach to cervical screening helps remove barriers
Connie McGilloway is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Forensic Clinical Examiner at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) in Donegal. Connie works to promote “recovery, and health for women”.
When Connie noticed many women using the service were not taking up their invitation for cervical screening, she set up a screening clinic to “support women who have experienced sexual trauma to choose screening, by reducing the barriers that stop them from attending”.
Connie provides her patients with information about cervical screening and how to access it, “in a trauma-informed, non-judgmental, safe environment; one that promotes shared control and collaboration”.
Read more about Connie’s work at Donegal SATU.
New report shows important role of community champions in improving equity in screening
A new report shows the impact of our community champions project by reaching people who might not otherwise choose screening.
Community champions are health workers who are trusted and respected within their communities. They are typically advocates, or individuals who have strong ties to specific groups or populations.
For our pilot project, we trained 40 people across five sites in Cork, Kerry, Dublin city, Galway, and the Dublin South/Kildare/West Wicklow Community Healthcare area. The project included peer support workers, community health workers, migrant support workers, Roma support workers, and health promotion staff.
The pilot evaluation report shows that the training helped to build the confidence of our community champions, and that they reached people in many communities including migrants, Roma, Travellers, disabled people, homeless people, the LGBTQI+ community, refugees, people who live in deprivation, and people in addiction.
Find out more about the work we're doing to improve equity in screening at hse.ie/equityinscreening.
Revision of CervicalCheck quality assurance standards in laboratories published
We’ve published a new revision of our standards for quality assurance in laboratories providing HPV testing, cytology and histopathology services to CervicalCheck. This revision updates the quality standards and requirements against which our laboratories are assessed. It takes into account existing guidelines within laboratory medicine including ISO accreditation standards, quality assurance programmes, Five Nations, and in other international screening programmes.
DRS Statistical Bulletin 2020-2021 report published
The number of eligible people on the Diabetic RetinaScreen register has grown by 4% year-on-year since 2015. This is one of the findings of the Diabetic RetinaScreen Statistical Bulletin 2020-2021, which we published on 28 April.
The report covers the two years most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It shows that over 65,000 people attended for screening in 2020, despite screening being paused for three months and capacity being limited by COVID-19 infection control safety measures.
In 2021, we screened 97,441 people, a 49% increase from 2020. The uptake rate in 2021 was 71.6%, exceeding our target of 70%.
Podcast highlights the ‘power of prevention’
During Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, patient advocate Joe Grogan was interviewed on the Let Me Explain podcast with Newstalk’s Seán Defoe.
Joe spoke about his cancer diagnosis after his first screening test; and Consultant in Public Health Medicine Dr Alan Smith discussed how BowelScreen prevents cancer, and bowel screening being extended to different age groups.
More news in brief
Here is some more news we reported recently:
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