The Introduction of Cancer Screening Within an Enhanced Physical Health Clinic for People With Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Health Difficulties

People with intellectual disabilities (ID), particularly those with co‐existing mental health difficulties, experience health inequalities and premature mortality. Cancer is a prominent cause of mortality, partially due to the difficulties this population faces in accessing screening. This paper explores the rates of colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate screening over a 28‐month period within an Enhanced Physical Health Clinic (EPHC) set within a specialist ID psychiatry service in Essex, United Kingdom (UK). We examined completion of, and any barriers to screening among EPHC patients (n = 463), and compared this to population‐wide screening data in the UK among people with an ID. The EPHC facilitated support with screening by providing reasonable adjustments, including providing easy‐read leaflets or booking appointments. The number of patients eligible for screening was colorectal (n = 83), breast (n = 73), cervical (n = 120) and prostate (n = 50), respectively. In comparison to the population‐wide data available for people with ID, successful screening by EPHC patients was significantly higher for colorectal (93% vs. 78%), breast (74% vs. 53%) and cervical screening (40% vs. 31%). While there is no national prostate screening programme to generate comparison figures, 98% of those eligible accessed screening through the EPHC. These results suggest that the EPHC, which operates within a specialist ID psychiatry service in secondary care, is an innovation that may help improve cancer screening rates.