Our system
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.
Through the campaign, we were able to engage with:
395
community members and carers
142
health professionals
