Tweed Workshops

The First Tweed Learning Workshop took place on March 17 2017, and focused breast cancer screening. Participant input is captured below.

You can contact our population health team on 02 6618 5400 if you have any questions or would like to provide some feedback.

Three things we will do when we get back to our practice:

  1. Develop the flyer for Breastscreen/mamm awareness raising.
  2. Pink cups(?) from Breastscreen – wish list.
  3. Raise topic of Breasts screening at next staff meeting and importance of coding mammograms in correct field.
  1. Invite Taya to do workshop.
  2. Discuss WCSC with rest of practice team.
  3. Practice brainstorming session on recalls – working at practice system and protocol.
  1. CINSW data – women who’ve identified their GP.
  2. Search on MD/BP.
  3. Survey distributed at the front desk – ? Yes/No answer, ? Consent issues, ? date of last mammogram (will patients remember?)
  1. Establish a register practice wide.
  2. Discuss coding with GPs
  3. Team meeting with at least one new member to attend
  4. Drivers for coding – Accreditation, QI PIP

What steps do we need to take to establish a registry?

  • Record mammogram and date in patient file in correct area/field
  • Quality assurance – Genie Reports to extract data.
  • Start with the search of women aged 50-74.
  • Collate names in a spread sheet.
  • WILL TAKE A LOT OF TIME
  • Who’s going to pay for it?
  • Request for an incentive payment to undertake this work.

How will we identify who our under-screened women are?

  • Activity over a month: Reception to provide each female patient with pink flyer to take in to appointment to prompt all staff to ask about mammogram.
  • Aim:
    • Create culture of awareness among patients and staff.
    • Identify underscreened patients and provide education.
      Activity 2: HRT patients – pull data and recall for mammogram.
  • Breastscreen and private providers to communicate – tick box with consent to provide details to Breastscreening register.
  • National registry.
  • Patients overseas, deceased.

Who are your breast under-screeners? (age 50-74)

  • Fear – Pain & discomfort, eg. bursting of nerve, bad past experience, “what if”.
  • Alternate Lifestyle – Radiation, fit/health, thoughts turning into manifestations.
  • Lack of understanding/education – no family history, S.B.E., prefer U.S.
  • Listening to other disciplines.

The Second Tweed Learning Workshop took place on July 18 2017, and focused cervical cancer screening. Participant input is captured below.

Three things you will do when you get back to your practice:

  1. Set specific time to get data sorted
  2. Team education at our next lunch time meeting
  3. Give all doctors the tick cancer screening sheet
  • Meet with Katrina Otto (webinar)
  • Better coding in history and recalls
  • SMS for reminders/recalls
  • Meeting with ALL staff so they understand why coding is important
  1. Collect screening information of all new patients in practice
  2. Implement “Mullum” flyer
  3. SMS reminders for cervical screening/mammogram
  4. Continue “cleaning” data

Who do you think are your cervical cancer under-screeners?

  1. Women with mental health issues
  2. Women with disabilities
  3. Women with fear/pain/post-menopausal
  1. Young women
  2. Women with a history of hysterectomy – told no longer necessary
  3. Embarrassed or prefer a female doctor
  1. Indigenous women
  2. Women with mental health issues/chronic disease
  3. Women with physical or intellectual disability
  4. Patients of male doctors

Now you have looked at your data, any changes to which women you think are under-screened for breast cancer?

We still think women with a previous bad experience, fear of radiation or lack of education about breast screening, but we also think it may be more of an issue for small busted women?

What’s been a challenge?

  1. Attitudes – some doctors need to be more pro-active in reminding women and keeping up to date with follow up results
  2. Mental health and obesity – challenge in conducting screening, high level of under-screening
  3. Engaging women who have had a bad experience in the past

 

  1. Time constraints
  2. Staffing/Education/Awareness
  3. Getting everybody on board
  4. Coding issues – ineffective data search
  5. Recall/reminders systems
  6. Under education of general population
  7. Being pro-active with brochures
  1. Time for data collection
  2. Recall system
  3. Continuity of care

What’s worked well?

  1. Front desk checklist
  2. Raising awareness among doctors to ask at every visit
  3. SMS recalls
  • Obtaining the breast screening list
  • Doctors Control Panel – it helps (if coded properly)
  • Phoning patients to get screening history
  • Involving the GP for advice on patient’s history (e.g. screening history)
  1. We have started collecting data
  2. The practice team’s involvement

This website is no longer active but is available to browse as a resource.

Women’s Cancer Screening Collaborative (WCSC) 2017-2018

Through the delivery of structured, clinician-led general practice quality improvement and health literacy interventions, general practices worked towards increasing access to and equity of women’s cancer screening programs across the North Coast.

From January 2017 to July 2018, general practices improved clinical systems and data auditing processes to better identify and remind never or under-screened at-risk populations of women. Focus groups were also held with at-risk women to understand the environmental and individual barriers and motivators to screening. 

This WCSC website acted as an information repository for all WCSC developed content providing access to and sharing of quality improvement tools, change strategy resources and ideas.

WCSC evaluation and resources can be found on the North Coast Primary Health Network. 

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