The mental health collaborative has made breast cancer screening one of its top priorities for people living with serious mental illness. 

The compelling evidence shows that only 22% of people who are eligible for the screening take it,  compared to 68% of the general population. 

Rationale for the project 

– High premature Mortality Rates in people with SMI

– Premature mortality linked with cancer 

-Low breast cancer screening uptake in people with SMI versus general population  

Fiona Grant, public health consultation for public health at Leicestershire county council said: “Breast cancer screening is one of the biggest screening processes that we have and we need to make sure that we are making it easy for everyone to take part. It is not acceptable to see this level of disparity, which is why the collaborative, in addition to the three local authorities will be making this one of their health priorities.”

There has already been a lot of work completed as part of a pilot, including reciprocal workforce training, focus on person centre care and reasonable adjustments and more coordination across services.