NHS England has launched a pilot project using the NHS App to invite women to breast screening appointments.
It is being run with three breast screening offices – in Milton Keynes, south west London and Dorset – as part of an effort to ensure more cancers are detected and treated an early stage when they are too small to see or feel.
Katie Sheridan, NHS England’s digital screening communications lead, said the pilots are still in progress, with appointment details having been sent to 140 participants through the app. If they do not have the app or do not open the message it is then sent by text message, with a letter sent by post being the final option.
It added that NHS Notify monitoring capabilities have indicated that participants are successfully receiving messages through at least one of the three delivery methods, and that the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Further research
Sheridan said: “The results of this pilot will be used to inform further research and testing, with a specific focus on the accessibility, inclusion and equity aspects of digital channels.
“A wider roll out to more breast screening offices is planned, with the lessons learned from delivering digital-first invitations helping to determine how to approach communications to breast screening participants around appointment reminders and test results.
“Insights will also be shared across other programmes undergoing digital transformation including bowel cancer and cervical screening.”
