Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance is training the region’s hair and beauty salon staff to encourage their customers to attend their cervical cancer screening appointments and educate them about the symptoms of the disease during January’s Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.
The Cancer Alliance has offered a free training course to salons in low screening take-up areas in Humber and North Yorkshire. This training is designed to equip the staff with the skills to have conversations about cervical cancer with their customers. By taking part, salon owners and their staff can break down the barriers that may stop one of their customers from booking a screening appointment.
In addition to the training, members of the Cancer Alliance spent the run-up to Christmas providing salon managers and staff in the lowest screening take-up areas – Goole, Grimsby, Hull, Scarborough and Scunthorpe – with posters and stickers, to help customers learn more about cervical screening.
Every day, two women die of cervical cancer in England, yet 99.8% of cases are preventable. The best way to reduce your risk of cervical cancer is to attend your cervical screening appointment if you are invited.
All women and people with a cervix aged 25 to 64 are invited by letter to attend a cervical screening appointment (a smear test) to check the health of their cervix. It can be uncomfortable, but not as painful as you might think. The actual screening takes just 10 minutes to complete and could save your life.
Louise Gibbon, 45, owner of Louise’s Beauty Retreat in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, said: “I think the Cancer Alliance’s approach to raising cervical cancer awareness and getting more people to have screening done is so important. I’m looking forward to taking up the training and telling my customers what I’ve learned. Hopefully, we salon owners can help to make a difference this January.”
Juliet McNab, owner of York House Beauty Clinic in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was more than happy to help with the Cancer Alliance’s mission, as she and several members of her staff have all survived different types of cancer.
Juliet said: “My team and I have a very strong bond, having all dealt with cancer, and we consider ourselves lucky to still be here. We believe very strongly in the power of conversations about cancer already, so when the Cancer Alliance got in touch about their training, we jumped at the chance.”
Cervical screening helps to prevent cervical cancer by checking for a virus called high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes nearly all cervical cancers. This means any cervical cell abnormalities can be treated. If left untreated, these cells can develop into cancer.
Dr Tami Byass, a GP at Eastgate Medical Group, Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, said: “My message to women and anyone with a cervix is to please attend your cervical screening appointment when invited and see your GP if you have any concerning symptoms. It is also important to know what is normal for you, so you can spot signs of cervical cancer in the earliest stages.
“Some of the main symptoms to be aware of are vaginal bleeding that is unusual for you – including bleeding during or after sex, between your periods or after the menopause, or heavier periods than usual; pain during sex; and changes to your vaginal discharge.”
Emma Jones, 39, an A&E housekeeper at Hull Royal Infirmary, received an HPV-positive result after her cervical screening in 2021, and was then diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer. Emma had lost her mother to cancer, but following chemotherapy, radiotherapy and brachytherapy, she was declared cancer-free in 2022.
Emma said: “I know how busy life can be, but please, don’t miss your cervical screening appointments. My body was telling me something wasn’t right. I was bleeding during or after sex, and I was so tired. So, I went to see my GP and had a screening. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, I had to go through my treatment alone. It was hard, but if I hadn’t listened to my body and asked for a screening, I might not be here now.”