NHS England and NHS Improvement has launched the Access phase of the ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign.
COVID-19 has changed the way that people are accessing NHS services. A recent NHS survey of 2,178 people found that almost half (48%) of the public would delay or not seek medical help at all. A fifth (22%) would not want to burden the NHS, and a similar proportion said that fear of getting coronavirus or passing it onto others was a major reason for not getting help.
The campaign will encourage the public to contact their GP if they are worried about a symptom that could be cancer, encourage pregnant women to keep appointments and seek advice if they are worried about their baby, encourage those already who are already being treated for a health issue to keep their routine appointments and those experience mental health issues to access NHS services and support.
The first phase is concentrating on encouraging people to present with cancer symptoms. Attached are posters and digital images to use in practice and on practice websites and social channels.