Men urged to take up free aneurysm health check (From Keighley News)

Take-up of test offer in district is poor

7:00am Wednesday 10th October 2012 in Keighley By Claire Lomax

Men in Bradford and Airedale are being urged to make sure they attend a life-saving health check after it was revealed the district has one of the highest non-attendance rates for the national screening programme.

All men in their 65th year in the district are automatically invited to attend a screening appointment for an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The NHS-run programme was launched earlier this year and offers screening at GP practices, health centres and community hospitals across West Yorkshire.

However, Bradford has one of the highest non-attendance rates at the moment of 15 per cent.

Patients get their results on the day after the ten-minute scan. The majority will require no further action, however small aneurysms will need monitoring and if a large aneurysm is detected the patient will be referred to a specialist.

Men from the Anand Milan Centre in Bradford recently attended screening at Westwood Park Community Hospital, off Cooper Lane.

Qasim Khan, who organised the screening for the group, encouraged all communities in the area to take up this screening programme.

He said: “This is a wonderful programme but people don’t seem to be aware of AAAs or the programme. It’s a free test that takes ten minutes.”

Men who are over 65 are able to book an appointment themselves by phoning the West Yorkshire AAA Screening Programme on (01422) 224204. Also call this number for more information about the screening programme.