Almost one million women miss vital breast screening

Breast Cancer Now has estimated that nearly one million women in the UK have missed potentially lifesaving NHS breast screening due to coronavirus.

The breast cancer charity has warned that around 986,000 women missed their mammograms due to breast screening programmes being paused in March 2020, in a bid to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading and to free up emergency resource for the NHS.

Additionally, Breast Cancer Now also anticipates that around 8,600 of the women caught up in this backlog could have been living with undetected breast cancer, with their diagnosis delayed due to the detrimental impact of coronavirus on the NHS.

The charity is urgently calling on the government and NHS bodies across the UK to set out how the anticipated influx in demand for imaging and diagnostics will be met. It is also calling on the UK government to commit in its upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review to investing in the NHS cancer workforce to ensure breast cancer cases are diagnosed as early as possible.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “That nearly one million women across the UK were caught up in the backlog waiting for breast screening is cause for grave concern as we know that around 8,600 of these women could have been living with undetected breast cancer. Mammograms are a key tool in the early detection of breast cancer, which is critical to stopping women dying from the disease.

“We understand that the breast screening programme was paused out of necessity due to the global coronavirus pandemic, but we must now press play to ensure that all women can access breast screening, and we cannot afford for the programme to be paused again.

“Governments and NHS health bodies across the UK must set out how the influx in demand for imaging and diagnostics will be met. The government must also seize the timely opportunity presented by the Comprehensive Spending Review, to urgently invest in recruiting and training NHS staff so that the workforce is equipped to give all women with breast cancer the best possible chance of early diagnosis.”