Background and considerations
Updated 25 May 2022
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/be-clear-on-cancer-first-national-cervical-screening-saves-lives-campaign/background-and-considerations
The first national ‘Cervical Screening Saves Lives’ campaign ran from 5 March 2019 to 30 April 2019 in England, as part of the wider Be Clear on Cancer initiative.
Considerations
Invitations and attendance in the cervical screening programme vary throughout a year and across years. Therefore, a change in attendance from one year to the next does not necessarily indicate a significant change. For example, invitation rates are affected by previous results as attendees will either be on 3 or 5 year routine recall, or on 3 or 6 month early follow up.
The cervical programme was undergoing significant change in the run up to, and during, the campaign. This was due to a change in the primary screening method from cytology to human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. This meant that even if more individuals did attend due to the campaign, the system was not in good position to deal with the higher numbers. This may have had an inverse effect of delaying diagnosis and attendance at colposcopy.
In general, cancer incidence is increasing which may have an impact on trends over time for this and other metrics, and so the results must be considered with these underlying trends in mind.
Where the results are statistically significant there is some evidence for an impact of the campaign, although underlying trends and other external factors (for example other awareness activities, changing referral guidance) may also affect the results.
Campaigns are more likely to have a greater impact on metrics relating to patient behaviour (for example responding to cervical screening invitation, symptom awareness and GP attendance with relevant symptoms) and use of the healthcare system (for example urgent GP referrals for suspected cancer), compared to metrics on cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis. Increasing awareness of cancer symptoms may not always necessarily translate to increases in cancer diagnoses and more cancers being diagnosed early.
Limitations
These metrics should not be considered in isolation. A comprehensive interpretation of the campaign incorporating a full evaluation of all the metrics will be published separately.
Get advice on the signs and symptoms of cancer from the NHS website. You can also find out more about the evaluation of Be Clear on Cancer campaigns.