NATIONAL SKIN CANCER AWARENESS CHARITY, SKCIN LAUNCH ‘MASCED PRO’ - A national Melanoma and Skin Cancer Early Detection training programme for Medical and Healthcare Practitioners.

The MASCED PRO on-line training programme has been developed by national melanoma and skin cancer awareness charity, Skcin, to provide medical and healthcare practitioners with an accessible, cost effective tool with which to develop their knowledge of the early signs and symptoms of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers - giving them the confidence to refer or signpost patients to appropriate colleagues and/or services following the identification of suspicious lesions.

Despite the vast majority of all skin cancers being preventable, statistics continue to soar and ignorance regarding how to spot the early signs and symptoms on a personal level, or within professional capacities remains widespread. The objective of the MASCED PRO programme is to fill the mammoth void that exists in this arena by facilitating the provision of effective training tools with quality printed and on-line resources, enabling practitioners to integrate this knowledge into their everyday practice and extend vital information on prevention and early detection across their patient communities.

The MASCED PRO training programme has been reviewed and is supported by the British Association of Dermatologists, the British Association Skin Cancer Specialist Nurses and the British Dermatological Nursing Group.

“The British Association of Dermatologists supports this valuable programme. Many professionals who come into contact with skin through the course of their work will have received little or no training in how to spot signs of the UK’s most common cancer. Given that the vast majority of deaths from skin cancer could be avoided if the cancer was detected earlier, work such as this by Skcin, to help drive earlier referrals of potential cancers to specialists, can only be seen as a hugely positive step”.

The training programme has been developed by the charity following the success of it’s sister scheme that launched in January 2018 training hair, health and beauty industry professionals. With over 10,000 professionals registered across the UK and over 1,000 from over 30 different countries globally, the MASCED programme has seen huge success. The significant interest from medical & healthcare practitioners and associated organisations highlighted the evident need for such a programme to develop into an arena that is void of practical, accessible and measurable solutions.

“Allied Health professionals have a major role to play in prevention” - a statement issued by Public Health England who have recently published the first ever UK-wide public health strategy that sets out their plans to maximise the contribution that Allied Health Professionals make to prevention and how they can deliver public health benefits.

Marie Tudor CEO of charity, Skcin adds: “ By supporting all healthcare professionals to embed prevention and early detection within their practice is critical to reducing the soaring rates of skin cancer in the UK. The MASCED PRO training programme strongly supports the call by Public Health England to look beyond the obvious NHS workforce to see how other professionals can help prevent illness and promote wellbeing”.

Allied Health Professionals make an enormous contribution to tackling public health challenges. Made up of 14 professions, including occupational therapists, paramedics, podiatrists and physiotherapists, AHPs are the third largest workforce in the NHS. Spending time with millions of people across the country every day, these professionals are well placed to offer skin health advice and support to a wide range of different communities.

The MASCED PRO training programme however, extends further than the 14 professions defined as AHP’s and is open to all medical and healthcare practitioners. The training also fills a huge void that exists in the education of General Practitioners who are surprisingly afforded little to no training on the subject.

The training programme piloted throughout March and April earlier this year in the Midlands, where 45 of the 100 healthcare practitioners who took part were GPs who provided some hugely positive, 5 star feedback:

“The course refreshed and consolidated my knowledge and helped me to identify where further training is needed. Where any doubt existed I now have all the tools needed to be confident in justifying any requests for referral. Thank you!”

“Really useful learning package. good variety pictures and tests knowledge adequately. I feel a lot more confident looking at skin lesions and when to refer”.

“Useful course. It has definitely increased my confidence in identifying suspicious lesions”.

The training programme is officially launching today,  Wednesday 15th May at the Primary Care and Public Health Exhibition at NEC Birmingham -  the UK’s leading event for GPs, federations, CCGs, primary care and community pharmacists, nurses, midwives, AHPs and healthcare managers working in primary care, community care, public and prison health.

Marie Tudor said: “This is the perfect platform to us to officially launch the programme and with a speakers slot lined up we anticipate great interest. We have worked hard over the last year to develop this training that has been reviewed and supported by many professionals in dermatology, giving us the confidence to forge forward and launch the training programme nationally”.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

With the provision of the training and tools provided by the MASCED PRO Training Programme, on completion learners will be able to:
•  Identify and interpret common signs and symptoms in the assessment of the most common forms of potential non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers.
• Demonstrate appropriate clinical decision-making in taking action to refer or sign-post patients to appropriate colleagues and / or services.
• Utilise effective communication techniques in the education of their patients in relation to the identification, management and prevention of sun damage and skin cancer.
• Critically reflect on their own clinical practice to identify and develop their understanding of sun damage and skin cancers.
Gain access to the tools and resources with which to extend the provision of vital information on the prevention and early detection of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer into and across their patient community.

IMPACT ON CURRENT PRACTICE

Lack of knowledge and awareness on a national scale means that cancerous lesions are not detected by patients or healthcare practitioners, delaying treatment which can result in poor prognosis. There are Potential impacts of the MASCED PRO training on current healthcare practice in the UK these are:

• Increased confidence, enhanced practical skills and Improved knowledge of skin lesions across medical & healthcare industries.
• Early identification and treatment of malignant lesions- increasing long term survival rates.
• Increased awareness - that not all lesions follow the ABCDE rule and that the ABCDEF (subungual) and CUBED rules are good additional diagnostic tools.
• Increased knowledge of the warning signs of amelanotic lesions which lack pigmentation.
• Increased awareness and education across patient communities in relation to the identification, management and prevention of sun damage and skin cancer.
• Reduced treatment costs for the National Health Service.

WHAT’S INVOLVED?

Every professional who registers with the programme will receive a welcome pack which includes their MASCED PRO Guide - a 40 page essential learning tool that provides key information about the risks associated with UV, how to prevent skin cancer, how to identify the most common types of melanoma & non-melanoma skin cancers, how and when to refer/signpost patients, and how to extend vital information into and across their patient community. The MASCED PRO guide and mole ruler are designed to be kept in clinic as easy reference tools to aid practitioners in their everyday practice.

Once professionals have studied their guide they can then gain certification by completing the on-line e-course which has been developed to reinforce key messaging throughout the guide whilst providing a virtual experience in the identification of suspicious lesions and the subsequent referral/signposting process.

Medical and healthcare practitioners and AHP’s can get on board with the programme, by registering at: pro.masced.uk

All funds received from the MASCED PRO Training Programme are ploughed straight back into the charity, enabling them enhance and develop their comprehensive range of educational intervention programmes and resources, to aid the prevention and early detection of melanoma and skin cancer on a national scale.

For further information please contact: Marie Tudor:
marie.tudor@skcin.org | 0777 5771986
www.skcin.org