Table 1.

Principles of the national screening oversight board to inform restart decisions for screening programmes.

1.Safety – Ensuring that all elements of the restarting of screening programmes are fully and continually risk assessed to ensure that safety is of the highest consideration and that all screening is clinically effective at all times.

2.Quality Assurance – Ensuring that agreed standards and quality are not compromised, if and where possible as a result of the pause and restart of screening recognising there may be a temporary impact on performance.

3.Equity – Ensuring against inequalities in all areas of the restarting of screening while acknowledging that certain categories of individual may need to be prioritised over others in order to adhere to the principle of safety. Ensuring that people have the same means of accessing screening when restarted across Scotland and across all screening programmes.

4.Person-Centeredness – Ensuring that the planning of restart continues to have the participant and their experience at the Centre while acknowledging that the national screening programmes follow a whole population approach.

5.Inclusion and Engagement – Ensuring that stakeholders are fully involved in and engaged with in relation to the planning of screening programmes restarting.

6.Quality Improvement – Ensuring that where possible opportunities for quality improvement are built into the planning around the restart of screening in line with already planned quality improvement measures.

7.Efficiency – Ensuring that the restarting of screening is conducted in an efficient way and opportunities for efficiencies are identified.

8.Transparency and Effective Communication – Ensuring that stakeholders and participants are fully aware of the opportunities and challenges that result from the pausing and restarting of screening programmes and that information is forthcoming, detailed and clear at all times so participants are fully aware of the next steps and timelines involved.