Decision details

The Health and Adult Services Select Committee (HASSC) undertook a scrutiny review on ‘Cancer Prevention, Awareness, and Early Detection’ as Councillors were concerned that there needed to be more public awareness around the importance of early intervention in tackling cancer so that residents access the right services, in a timely manner, to have the best possible outcome.  As a result of the review the HASSC made twelve recommendations, which if accepted, will help increase the number of people in LBBD who are aware of the lifestyle factors which may affect the risk of developing cancer, the signs and symptoms of cancer, and the importance of attending cancer screening requests.

The Board will be asked to agree the recommendations made to it and oversee the other recommendations.

The Board:

(i)  Accepted the Cancer Prevention, Awareness and Early Detection Scrutiny Review 2016/17 findings and report of the Health and Adult Services Select Committee, as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(ii)  Accepted the Action Plan as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(iii)  Agree to receive six-monthly progress reports on the delivery of the action plan; and

(iv)   Suggested that that it would wish to see:

(a)  Other local employers being encouraged to take up the Healthy Workforce Programme, for example through the local Chamber of Commerce.

(b)  A higher percentage of funding being directed towards educating the public of signs and symptoms that need to be checked and why attending and participating in testing is vital. 

(c)  The language used in the publication materials and interactions with partnership staff to be looked at critically to ensure that they make sense to hard to reach communities and are culturally acceptable.

(d)  The cultural acceptability of testing options are considered in order to increase the take-up of early diagnosis tests.

(e)  The local provision for testing should be continued in order to encourage attendance and that the quality of those testing resource needs to be maintained to a high standard. 

With this in mind requested that a map of the borough showing the take-up of testing due to geographical accessibility be included in future monitoring reports.