NSC passes the prostate screening test
Copperfield finds the National Screening Committee’s draft recommendations on prostate cancer screening award-worthy
If you’re looking for a diversion from all the GPC/contract/overlooked Governmental emails shenanigans, then welcome. Because it’s that time of year when the editor knocks together an annual list of general practice awards for the good, bad and ugly. And I’d like to help by nominating the National Screening Committee for the ‘Growing a Pair’ prize.
Because, as you’ll know by now, the NSC declined to bow to public pressure and instead deemed prostate cancer screening as causing more harm than good/being cost ineffective.
And this from an organisation not known for sticking its head above the parapet – where were they in debates on health checks and AF screen-creep? Still, better late than never.
A final decision is due in March. In the interim, Wes Streeting is going to ‘examine the evidence’, which is a bit of a swerve. He’s always previously said he’d ‘follow the evidence’. Who knew his latest hobby is multivariate regression analysis? So we might yet find major health policy decisions led by emotion rather than evidence, a.k.a. public opinion, a.k.a. vote potential.
In truth, the NSC could have gone further. Why not pronounce, too, on the bizarre anomaly of the PSA being the only test of unproven value to be available on request? To quote current NHS guidance: ‘Men aged 50 or over can ask their GP for a PSA test, even if they do not have symptoms. Anyone aged 50 or over with a prostate can ask for a PSA test.’ With the screening programme hopefully nixed, PSA on demand sends a mixed message and wastes a heap of valuable consultation time.
Ah, they’ll say, the ‘right’ to have a PSA is different. It’s not a screening programme where a population is proactively called/recalled etc etc. Er, yes it is. It’s an open invite for men to have their test, with a constant churn of reminders through handwringing media, celebrities and charities. It’s at the individual’s discretion, yes, but ultimately that’s the case with all screening.
Besides, we don’t have on-request CA125 for women worried about ovarian cancer. Or full body CT scans on application for patients wanting ‘a thorough check-up’. Or menopause checks for all women of a certain age. Oh, wait, yes we do, menopause checks have just been rolled into NHS health checks, something else the NSC possibly slept through.
Now it’s woken up, maybe we can go back to health policy dictated by ballsy evidence-based medicine rather than emotive drum banging. Remember, Wes said he wants to be led by evidence. Or did he say he wants to lead the evidence? It’s hard to keep up with the emails, sometimes, isn’t it?
Dr Tony Copperfield is a GP in Essex
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READERS' COMMENTS [6]
Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles
Dismissing doctors’ warnings against examining the evidence for himself, and knocked down Flat on his face for the 20th time by the Gypsy King – drooling Wes “BabyFace” Streeting was beginning to wonder whether he’d misunderstood the prostrate test…..🥊🥊
I find it disappointing that mainstream media are presenting the issue as:
“the screening committee found that the number of cancer deaths prevented did not outweigh the downsides”
This is true but ignores the much more fundamental problem:
No benefit in overall survival (as opposed to cancer-specific deaths)
My reading is that presumbably as many lives are shortened by downstream complications of screening as as lengthened by reducing cancer-specific mortality
In other news, a spokesperson for the Health Minister confirmed that “Iron Veins” Streeting would NO longer be examining or testing the evidence for whether injecting bleach is a cure for Coronavirus…
And finally, the Daily Rumour reports that, to examine the evidence for gravity For Herself, despite “that Newton fella”, Little Wes’s babysitter frequently dropped him on his head….🥴
(Oh and a little ditty for the weekend. Sing along guys, you know the tune)
Farage has only got one ball
Ticey has two but very small
Yusuf’s a silly doofus
And Sarah Pochin has no balls at all.
Let’s just do CEA, CA19-9, AFP and bHCG on them all too. Maybe I’ll add testosterone and tell them to come in at 2pm having had a big lunch and see if we can get them all into the Wes-funding private TRT clinics.