Wessex Cancer Alliance has been working with many community groups to increase awareness of cancer signs symptoms and raise awareness of screening programmes. Portsmouth Women’s Alliance is an organisation created to build confidence and reduce fear in Black Minority Ethnic groups and had previously engaged in successful workshop on breast screening/awareness with Wessex Cancer Alliance.

This cervical screening awareness workshop was set up in collaboration with Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust and invited women from the Portsmouth Women’s Alliance to join and share/discuss their experiences of cervical screening and find out more about it. Prior to the awareness session some time was allocated to run a small focus group to discuss with the group their thoughts and opinions on the use of a video text message via GP practices and what information is important to them. The purpose of this was to ensure that the public/patient voice was integral in the development of the video, particularly to those in populations where screening uptake was lower.

Published: March 2025