The NHS is rolling out two community-based health screening initiatives in England, targeting new mothers and the over-50s respectively.
NHS England guidance, first, is now recommending that all new mothers in England receive a more comprehensive mental and physical check-up from their GP in the weeks after they give birth.
GPs will be expected to carry out the comprehensive postnatal check-up six to eight weeks after women give birth.
The check-up will cover a range of topics, such as mental health, physical recovery, and breastfeeding, and will support them with family planning.
Around 600,000 women give birth in England every year and they are all entitled to a postnatal check-up after they give birth, in addition to the newborn check-up.
The new guidance has been written in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners and asks family doctors to provide personalised postnatal care for their physical and mental health, and support them with family planning.
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The check-up will be an opportunity for GPs to assess and support women not just in their physical recovery post-birth but also their mental health, NHS England has said. Any woman needing extra mental health support will then be able to be referred to a specialist, if appropriate.
The second initiative is focusing on health screening for bowel cancer and will see hundreds of thousands more people being sent a home-testing kit, as NHS England is expanding its pre-existing screening programme to anyone aged 54 or over.
People of this age will now automatically receive a home test kit every two years by post when they become eligible, NHS England has said.
The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit checks for blood in a small stool sample, which can be a sign of bowel cancer.
The phased expansion to people aged 54 years and over means an additional 830,000 people in England will now be eligible for the screening test, with London, which has the lowest uptake in the country, among the first places to roll out to this age group.
FIT kits are done at home by putting a poo sample in a small tube and returning it by post to the NHS for testing. Those newly eligible will receive an invitation letter and will be sent their test with full instructions and prepaid return packaging. The results are sent back to participants, along with information about further tests, if needed.
On the new-mother checks, Dr Claire Fuller, NHS medical director for primary care and the NHS’ lead GP in England said: “More than 600,000 women give birth every year in England, and so it is vital that they can get the right NHS mental health and physical support at what can be a hugely pressured moment in their lives.
“GPs are perfectly placed to offer new mums welfare checks 6 to 8 weeks after giving birth – for not only their physical health but also their mental wellbeing and this new NHS guidance ensures that family doctors have the resources to provide this comprehensive support.”
On the bowel cancer screening, Steve Russell, national director for vaccinations and screening at NHS England, said: “Lives are saved when cancers are caught early and this expansion of our bowel cancer screening programme to those aged 54 will help to spot signs of bowel cancer sooner, and potentially save thousands of lives.”
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