Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Members will be asked to declare any Statutory Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Compulsory Registerable Non-Pecuniary Interests and Voluntary Registerable Non-Pecuniary Interests in respect of items on this agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

Kirsten Watters, Director Public Health, reported being the London immunisation lead for the Association of Directors of Public Health.

The Chair welcomed attendees, summarising the terms of reference and timeline for the Panel.

There were no items of urgent business.

Report of the Assistant Director, Public Health

To receive an overview of screening programmes and current performance in Camden, to help inform an area of focus or prioritisation.

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director Public Health.

In response to questions about whether the predisposition of different ethnic groups to different types of cancer had been mapped, Wikum Jayatunga, Assistant Director Public Health, agreed to share the existing data on this.

ACTION: Assistant Director, Public Health

It was noted that there was data for an increased risk of contracting cardiovascular disease within Black and Asian ethnic groups. For example, South Asians were more likely to suffer from heart disease and certain Black communities were more likely to have high blood pressure. There was also some evidence that there was genetic predisposition to diabetes but cultural factors, including diet, could also be impacting. A summary of further data on evidence of predisposition was requested for the Panel to support consideration of the need to prioritise resources.

ACTION: Assistant Director, Public Health

Kirsten Watters, Director of Public Health, commented that screening programmes were population-based to identify apparently healthy people who may have an increased chance of a disease or condition. Inequalities of uptake could be scrutinised further.

The Director of Public Health reported that the UK had, the previous few days, signed up to the World Health Organisation’s strategy to eliminate cervical cancer.

A discussion was held on the potential connection between low coverage of breast screening in Camden and the number of cases of breast cancer diagnosed. The Director of Public Health noted that screening was for healthy women with no symptoms and there was not necessarily any link between the level of screening coverage and the number of breast cancer cases. It was difficult to prove at a population level that screening saved lives but early intervention was effective in treating breast cancer.

Officers explained that potential national screening programmes were assessed by the UK National Screening Committee which provided advice on whether programmes met certain criteria for implementation.

The Chair commented that the scope of the Panel should not extend beyond screening to the diagnostic pathways.

Officers noted that awareness of symptoms could assist in increasing uptake of screening programmes, as had been demonstrated by thousands of people seeking advice on bowel cancer screening following the death of George Alagiah. However, there was still a range of barriers including language, needing to take time off work, concern about bothering GPs with seemingly trivial symptoms, and stigma. Bowel cancer screening had a pathway whereby those individuals who had a positive faecal immunochemical test (FIT) were referred for a colonscopy. A third of those referred did not take up the colonscopy for various reasons.

In response to questions, officers explained that the UK National Screening Committee had not recommended prostate screening as a national programme due to the high rate of false positives to the blood test. However, if an individual had symptoms, the GP could refer for a blood test and contextualise the results using their clinical judgement.

The Assistant Director Public Health commented that a health check equity audit would be undertaken  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There were no items of urgent business.