Screening equity strategy 2026 to 2031

Executive summary

Our vision is that everyone in Wales who is eligible for screening can easily get their screening test and has a fair chance to take part. We want people to have clear, trustworthy information so they can make the choice that is right for them.  

This strategy sets out how we will work together with Local Health Boards, the community and voluntary sector, and people across Wales throughout their lives to make this happen. It builds on our previous Screening Equity Strategy 2022-2025¹ and takes on board discussion and engagement with people involved in providing screening and people who receive screening to find out what action we can take that will make a real difference to the people of Wales.  

To remove barriers and close the gap it is not enough to offer the same service to everyone. If people have additional needs, then we need to make sure we are offering them extra support so there is equity of access and outcome. Often the people who do not take up our screening offer when they are first invited are the people most risk of the conditions and diseases that we screen for. To reduce screening inequities, we need to focus on actions that will help our services deliver to all, so we can create a Wales where everyone has a fair chance to live well and live longer in good health. This strategy focuses on our current screening programmes and how we deliver them. It would be expected that any future screening programmes would also align to these principles. 

Our previous strategy identified five key action areas. In this new strategy we have refreshed and reframed these key action areas for the next stage of our work. The key actions areas are: 

• Developing and sharing accessible information 

• Working together 

• Using our services 

• Learning, training and development 

• Monitoring and evaluation of impact  

To deliver on the key actions areas we will: 

Developing and sharing accessible information 

• Engage and co-produce where possible simple, easy to understand information on screening in a range of accessible formats so people can decide if they want to take up their screening offer.  

• Aim to meet people’s communication and language needs with information in their preferred format.  

• Move to a digital first approach to communicate with people. 

Working together 

• Work with primary care and public health teams in Health Board to make sure that people are supported to take up their screening offer 

• Work with communities and community and voluntary sector partners to make sure everyone has reliable information about screening 

• Deliver screening awareness training and support screening equity networks 

Using our services 

• Plan our services with equity and person-centred as core principles to improve accessibility of screening centres 

• Develop a more flexible offer of screening appointments and provide accessible ways for people to change their appointments with the ambition to bring in online booking 

• Develop prompts and support for people along the screening pathway which can include behaviourally informed communications, SMS for notifications and targeted telephone calls for non-responders  

Learning, training and development 

• Support the screening system to build their knowledge and skills to support equitable uptake 

• Develop a screening workforce who understand under-screened groups and how best to offer support 

• Test and evaluate new interventions to increase screening uptake and reduce screening inequities being innovative in piloting new ideas  

Monitoring and evaluating our impact 

• Improve our data capture to increase our understanding of under-screened populations 

• Share data to identify where screening uptake is low and monitor impact of actions to improve uptake 

• Provide regular and timely reports on screening performance  

Achieving equity within screening will require time and will need to be an ongoing area of action beyond the timeframe of this strategy. However, we want to see progress towards achieving our vision that everyone in Wales who is eligible for screening can easily get their screening test and has a fair chance to take part. By delivering on the key commitments outlined in the strategy we will make progress in achieving this vision. We will now put the strategy into action with a Screening Division Equity Action Plan for the Screening Division to deliver. This will identify what actions we need to take, who will do them and by when.  

This new Screening Equity Strategy is ambitious. It requires dedicated and committed action from within the Screening Division but also support from our partners across the wider screening system. But, by working together, we can remove barriers and close the screening equity gap.