H&F cervical screening project shortlisted for Nursing Times award

25 Aug 2020

We are delighted that the RM Partners-supported cervical screening project in Hammersmith and Fulham has been shortlisted for the Nursing Times Cancer Nursing Award 2020.

Hammersmith and Fulham GP Federation established a dedicated cervical cancer screening project team, which included trained female nurses to deliver screening clinics across the borough at more convenient times, including evenings and weekends.

The project began in April 2018, with dedicated clinics hosted at practices accessible by public transport and in geographical locations that would benefit from specific attention, for instance because of low screening participation or economic deprivation. The project team proactively contacted those patients who were overdue to help them book a screening appointment.

In 2019/20 the service was co-located with a well-known sexual health clinic based centrally, in addition to a dedicated clinic situated in the most deprived part of the borough. This provided greater opportunities for service integration as well as maximising service accessibility for patients.

The team targeted patients registered at practices with low screening uptake. It also worked with the Hammersmith and Fulham CCG and SOBUS (a charity representing all voluntary organisations in Hammersmith and Fulham), who undertook engagement sessions with local community groups such as the Somalian women’s community, to raise cervical screening awareness.

A bespoke video, which was produced to publicise the service, has been viewed around 11,000 times.

Since the start of the project, almost 2,000 women within the borough have accessed cervical screening, either by one of the project’s dedicated cervical screening nurses or by a nurse within their own practice.

The Hammersmith and Fulham cervical screening video is available here.