title: Avoiding inappropriate invitations to cancer screening programmes: the role of primary care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine current procedures for cancer screening invitation list (SIL) checking in primary care, and to make recommendations for the future use of these procedures.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cancer screening departments/units and associated general practices across England.
  
  
  METHODS
  1) An analysis of the outputs of screening programme SIL checking, and accompanying practice questionnaire, for cancers of the cervix (9 screening centres, 36 general practices), breast (6 centres, 76 practices) and bowel (pilot hub, 7 practices)--supplemented by an audit of calls to screening centres to identify inappropriate invitations; 2) a national postal questionnaire survey sent to all 80 breast screening departments across England and 320 associated general practices; 3) telephone interviews with 13 NHS screening staff to obtain detailed perspectives about SIL checking procedures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SIL checking in primary care is undertaken by a variety of clinical and non-clinical staff. It plays a useful role in cervical screening with tangible evidence of refinements to the SIL and support from both primary care and screening centre staff. Conversely, its role in breast and bowel screening is not supported by the results of this study. Overall, there is no significant evidence of adverse effects from inappropriate invitations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SIL checking in primary care for cervical cancer should continue, but its use in breast and bowel cancer screening is not supported by our results. New ways of undertaking the SIL checking process to make it more accurate and less burdensome should be examined.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Doorway 1, Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, United Kingdom. christine.campbell@ed.ac.uk
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Chantelle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anandan
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Appleton
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Elton
authors.forename: Julietta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Patnick
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weller
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011247:Pregnancy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis