Promoting health and preventing disease

Cancer screening participation rates:

41%

bowel

54%

breast

42%

cervical

Increasing cancer screening rates to save lives

Our PHN has identified cancer screening as an area of focus for our region. We have seen a significant reduction in breast and cervical screening rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with bowel cancer screening rates falling below the national average.


To put the data into perspective, for cervical cancer screening:

42%

of eligible people currently participate in the screening program in our PHN region


63,000

 lives have potentially been saved through regular screenings

1,500

lives could be saved for  every 1% we increase screening participation above 42%

For this reason, our PHN rolled out the Cancer Screening Campaign for 21 general practices in early 2021.

Talkin’ About health care in our region

Our PHN continued our TALK ABOUT Campaign in 2020-21 as a way to engage with the community about their experiences with primary health care.



We wanted to know what’s working well and what could be done better.


For 2020-21, four topics were selected for the community and health professionals to provide feedback on through a short, five-minute survey each quarter.

Care for older people

Alcohol and other drugs

Mental health

Chronic conditions

To read ‘What We Heard’ about these topics, visit our TALK ABOUT webpage.

View 'What We Heard' >

Through the campaign, we were able to engage with:

395

community members and carers

142

health professionals

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