Our first clinic on a ‘Health Outreach Bus’ was outside Peterborough Town Hall on a freezing and rainy day. Nevertheless, we were surprised that a long queue of men was waiting for a check-up before we had set up. By 9 am, before our official start, all the fifty allocated slots were filled, and we had to put others on a waiting list for future clinics. Within a few hours, we had to inform people on social media that the clinic was filled and that they should not make special journeys – just as well, as the total number of people who visited was over 200 men.
The bus is provided by Light Project Peterborough and funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care Board (ICB), Peterborough City Council and NHS Charities Together.
There are plans to take the bus around the region and provide community-based screening. With one in eight men likely to suffer from the disease, men need to get checked out. The idea of community-based screening is to encourage men to come forward, as they are less likely to visit their doctors or hospitals due to stigma, embarrassment, or simply not wanting to deal with medical issues.
In the last couple of years, there has been greater awareness and the Fighting Prostate Cancer campaign has been very active in getting out the message all across the country.
The Light Project Peterborough is a faith / community-led charity active since 2009. Its projects include City Chaplaincy, Winter Night Shelters, Rest Centres during the COVID-19 ‘Everyone In’ initiative, Multi-Agency Community Support Teams and daytime services.
Photo Top: North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (L-R): Matthew Beckett, Lisa Alexandra, Cliff Hodgkins, Jyoti Shah, Sharon Holland, Lauren Henson.
Outreach bus to offer prostate screening
BBC Peterborough 20 December 2023 (Click here)
Men urged to get checked for prostate cancer
The Hunts Post 2 November 2023 (Click here)