West Midlands Breast Screening General Practice Information Pack

In 2004 the West Midlands Breast Screening Health Promotion Group developed a standardised General Practice Information Pack that can be sent out by breast screening services to all general practices, prior to their eligible women being invited for screening. The purpose was twofold. Firstly, to be an educational tool for practice staff to update their knowledge of breast screening to ensure that they can deal with women's queries. Secondly, to promote the importance and value of breast screening to practice staff in the hope that they would be proactive in encouraging women within their catchment area to attend for breast screening.

The pack consists of 11 fact sheets providing information such as: contact details for the screening service; where and when women will be screened; key facts about breast screening; statistics for the screening service, general practice and PCT; frequently asked questions; and useful contacts for information and resources.

Along with the Information Pack, services were sent an evaluation form and a pre-paid envelope addressed to the West Midlands Breast Screening QA Reference Centre. To date 52 forms have been returned. Eighty-five per cent of respondents found the pack very useful. In particular they welcomed information on age ranges, contact details, practice statistics, frequently asked questions and answers, and information about the availability of leaflets and posters.