Issue - meetings

To consider and note the NHS response to the Breast Screening Scrutiny Review recommendations.

Please contact Committee Clerk for a copy of the Haringey Breast Screening Scrutiny Review Report.

Tamara Djuretic, Associate Director of Public Health, presented the report on the NHS Haringey and North London Breast Screening Service response to the  Scrutiny Review of Breast Screening Services in Haringey. Ms Djuretic thanked Cllr Winskill as Chair of the Scrutiny Review for the very useful scrutiny process. The Committee requested that scrutiny officers circulate the response document to all those who had participated in the review.

In response to concerns from the Committee in relation to the response to recommendation 2.4, Ms Djuretic agreed to seek clarification of why a decision had been taken that only one letter would be sent asking people to confirm their address and would report back to the Committee. It was also agreed that, in response to a question from the Committee on why Saturday clinics at the Whittington were not included in the response provided to recommendation 2.11, a written answer would be supplied to the Committee.

The Committee discussed the provision of information in community languages, and Ms Djuretic advised that this was a wider issue than simply language, as issues had been identified with regards to literacy levels. It was reported that Tower Hamlets were looking at an initiative with ‘talking cards’, and that this initiative would be monitored. The Committee was also advised that health trainers were operating in different languages to engage with specific local areas and communities with low take-up rates for screening programmes in relation to breast, bowel and cervical cancers. The Committee suggested that scrutiny officers put the NHS in touch with the Council’s own communications team to look at ways of employing community languages

The Committee thanked all those involved in the scrutiny review process for their contributions.

RESOLVED

That the content of the report be noted.