Cancer awareness in North Yorkshire

Healthwatch North Yorkshire worked with York St John University on behalf of the Humber and North Yorkshire Cancer Alliance to publicise a survey to inform and guide their strategy to drive earlier diagnosis of cancers and better outcomes for patients. The findings will feed the priorities and help identify the key areas of activity for the Cancer Alliance's future work plans to improve the awareness of cancer screening and cancer signs and symptoms. This report includes the results from North Yorkshire. A total of 1,818 people from North Yorkshire responded.

Respondents in North Yorkshire were slightly more likely to have contacted their GP within six months of noticing any of the list of possible cancer symptoms (52% compared to 49% of all respondents in Humber & North Yorkshire). They were more likely to get an appointment after contacting their GP practice to discuss a health concern (89% compared to 85%). They had the highest proportion saying that there was nothing that would make them more likely to attend a doctor-recommended hospital test (25% compared to 21%) and had the highest proportion saying that nothing put them off seeking medical attention (29% compared to 22%).