Cancer awareness in North East Lincolnshire

York St John University and Healthwatch undertook a survey of people across Humber and North Yorkshire, via phone interviews, online panels and an online survey of communities who are harder to engage with. The survey used the questionnaire developed by Cancer Research UK that they run nationally each year. Additionally, Healthwatch and voluntary organisations spoke to people who would not usually complete a survey (including people who were homeless and people with learning disabilities). A total of 6,167 people across the region of Humber and North Yorkshire responded to the survey, including 577 who live in North East Lincolnshire (9.4%), and there were 98 individual one-to-one conversations in total.

Respondents in North East Lincolnshire had a slightly higher recall for a persistent cough as a warning sign/symptom of cancer. They were slightly less likely to have contacted their GP within six months of noticing any symptom (43% compared to 49% of all respondents). They were slightly more likely to have had a virtual/remote appointment (28% compared to 23%) and were slightly less likely to say they found it difficult to get an appointment (10% compared to 15%). They were less likely to have completed a bowel cancer screening kit (66% compared to 74%).