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Research ID: UCL407
Dr Lesley McGregor and Dr Christian von Wagner are leading a study to look into the possibility of general practices (GPs) helping to increase uptake of bowel scope screening in Yorkshire.
Sponsor.University College London is the sponsor for this study. As the sponsor, University College London is responsible for the initiation, management and financing of the research.
Funding.The study is funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research. Funding started April 2017 and will end October 2019.
Collaborators. This study is being conducted in collaboration with researchers at Hull York Medical School
Background.The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is now made up of two tests offered to men and women registered at a GP practice in England:
1) Faecal occult blood test (FOBt): This is a test you are invited to complete at home every two years between the ages of 60 and 74. This screening test can help find bowel cancer in its early stages of growth, before a person begins to feel unwell and when it is more easily treated.
2) Bowel scope screening (BSS): This is a one-off test for 55 year olds. The test aims to find and remove growths (polyps), from part of the large bowel, which could turn into cancer over time. This test aims to reduce a person's risk of getting bowel cancer in the future.
The current study focuses on the second test, bowel scope screening (BSS). This test is the newer of the two tests having been introduced as part of the programme in 2013.
This study.Since April 2017, UCL have been working with community and expert groups to develop letters and a leaflet for GP practices to send to their patients who a) are soon to be invited for bowel scope screening by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and b) have not attended their appointment to have the test.
UCL researchers believe that GP practices could play an important role in supporting their patients to understand what BSS entails and to make the right decision for them as to whether or not to accept the NHS invitation for the test.
The letters and leaflet describe bowel scope screening to patients and, if appointments are missed, offer help on how to make a new one. GP practices may also call a patient to discuss their bowel scope screening invitation.
Patients registered at one of the participating practices, and who are eligible for BSS, will be randomly assigned to one of two groups:
Usual care: Patients will receive the invitation and information about BSS from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, as per usual practice.
Interventions: Patients will receive the invitation and information about BSS from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme AND information (letters, leaflets and/or phone calls) about BSS from their GP practice.
MailaDoc Ltd
In order for GP practices to send letters and leaflets to those assigned to the interventions group, they may choose to use a print and mailing company called MailaDoc Ltd.
If a GP practice decides to use Mailadoc Ltd, they will send the names, addresses and NHS numbers of the selected patients to them via a secure email system. MailaDoc Ltd will then print, prepare and post out the relevant materials on behalf of each of the GP practices. MailaDoc Ltd have systems in place to ensure your data are kept secure and confidential and will only be used for this study. Your details will not be passed on to any other company and will be destroyed by MailaDoc Ltd 30 days after they receive them.
MailaDoc Ltd has ISO27001 certification which shows that they follow best practice for information security. They also adhere to the NHS Information Governance guidelines. Their use in this study has been approved by Public Health England.
GP practices may choose to oversee the printing, packing and posting of letter and leaflets themselves, and deliver the interventions in-house.
Analysis.At the end of the study, the UCL researchers will receive data about your age, sex and ethnicity from your GP practice. We will also receive data about your attendance at bowel scope screening and the results of your test from NHS Digital. This data will allow the researchers to evaluate whether the letters, leaflets and calls from your GP practice had an effect on the number of people having BSS in Yorkshire.
The data received by the UCL researchers will be anonymous, i.e. no personal details, such as name and address, will be shared. To match the data we receive about you from your GP practice with the data we receive about you from NHS digital, a unique study ID (e.g. Participant 01_0001) will be used. It will not be possible for us to identify you personally at any point in the process.
The results of this study will be made available on this web page once analysis is complete.
Your data.For this study, your data is being used as part of a 'task in the public interest'. For more general information about the use of your data in research, please visit the NHS Health Research Authority's website: https://www.hra.nhs.uk/information-about-patients/
Data protection officer. The data protection officer for this study is: Lee Shailer (email: data-protection@ucl.ac.uk)
Dates.This study is due to start in August 2018 and all GP practice based communication about bowel scope screening as part of this study is due to stop at the end of March 2019.
GP practice participation: Please click here to see if your GP practice is registered to take part in this research.
If you are registered at one of the participating GP practices, and are eligible for BSS (e.g. have recently turned or are about to turn 55 years old), you will automatically be included in this study.
If you would rather not be part of this study, you can OPT OUT. You are not under any statutory or legal obligation to provide personal data. If you DO NOT want to be part of this study, please contact your GP practice directly and quote the title or study code: UCL407. Opting out of this study will not affect your medical or legal rights.
It is important to remember that YOU WILL still receive your BSS invitation from the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, but WILL NOT receive any communication about bowel scope screening from your GP practice as part of this specific study.
The UCL researchers do not have access to your personal details and so cannot ensure you are not included in this study; only your GP practice can do this.
However, if you wish to discuss the study before making a decision, or you want to make a complaint, please do contact the UCL researchers, who would be happy to chat with you:
Principal Investigators:
Dr Lesley McGregor
l.mcgregor@ucl.ac.uk
0207 679 8268
Dr Christian von Wagner
c.wagner@ucl.ac.uk
0207 679 1614
Research Associate:
Dr Robert Kerrison
Robert.kerrison.13@ucl.ac.uk
0203 108 3069
