Executive summary

Summary of purpose and intended audience for this manual.

This UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) manual presents an overview of best practice in screening, based on decades of world-class screening provision in the UK. It is intended for:

  • chief medical officers in the 4 UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland)

  • senior public health leaders, including in the Devolved Governments, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the NHS across the UK and local government

  • the UK NSC

  • condition-specific stakeholders, including patient organisations, wanting more information on the requirements for an effective evidence-based screening programme

  • academics and researchers

  • international colleagues responsible for the development and provision of screening services

The UK NSC is an independent committee that advises ministers and the NHS in the 4 UK countries about all aspects of screening. This includes the case for introducing new nationally managed population, targeted or risk stratified screening programmes and for continuing, modifying or withdrawing existing programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria. The government of each country within the UK decides whether to implement screening programmes recommended by the UK NSC. The NHS in each country is then responsible for the operational implementation and delivery of screening in line with UK NSC recommendations.

In addition to reviewing scientific evidence, the UK NSC also assesses the feasibility of delivering screening programmes and the effectiveness of their delivery.

The generic chapters in this manual contain information relevant to any screening programme. They should be read by anyone involved in setting up and/or delivering screening. These chapters cover:

A national screening programme must be well ordered with an end to end quality assured pathway. It requires evidence-based standards and clearly defined data requirements set at a national level, which are consistently collected and measured. For this, a single IT system is required for the provision of failsafes as well as to drive consistent data collection.

A national programme requires national management and oversight with a nationally set service specification to ensure standardised delivery. It should provide participants with consistent information and be delivered consistently throughout a nation by a workforce working to a single set of competencies.

Any new screening programmes recommended by the UK NSC should consider this content as describing best practice, and develop, implement and evaluate programmes in line with the information in this manual.

This manual will be expanded over time to cover condition-specific screening programmes.

The condition-specific chapters will provide information on:

  • the evidence base for the programmes

  • policy requirements

  • implementation processes

  • screening pathway components

  • components of effective and quality screening programmes

This manual is based on the experiences and practices of screening programmes in England, and therefore references English or UK-specific examples of guidance, policy and legislation. Other countries will have their own relevant requirements to adhere to, but the information provided here should be transferable to any country planning or running population screening programmes.

Those responsible for setting out screening policy should ensure that any policy guidance developed is reviewed within in an agreed timescale. This should also include review of current evidence, quality and effectiveness to determine if a programme should be altered or withdrawn.

This manual will regularly be updated. If you have any comments or suggestions for content, please contact the UK NSC at uknsc@dhsc.gov.uk.