Blackburn with Darwen breast screening uptake below pre-pandemic level

Anyone registered with a GP as female will be invited for NHS breast screening every three years between the ages of 50 and 71.

Women outside of the core age range can be screened without an invitation through self-referral, or as part of a research trial.

NHS England figures show 3,415 of the 5,235 people invited for a screening in the former NHS Blackburn with Darwen CCG had a test in the year to March this year.

It meant uptake of the screening stood at 65 per cent – up from 49 per cent the year before, but below pre-pandemic levels of 68 per cent in 2019-20.

Tricia Spedding, deputy head of public health at NHS England – North West, said: “Despite a fall in the number of people responding to invitations to come forward for breast screening, the programme in the North West has eliminated the backlog created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The NHS is sending out more breast screening invitations than ever before, so I would encourage anyone who receives and invitation to make an appointment – it could save your life.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is vital to detect cancer as early as possible and more than two million eligible women received breast cancer scans last year, up significantly on the previous two years.

“NHS breast cancer screening has been recovering since the height of the pandemic and earlier this year we invested a further £10 million for 29 new breast screening units, and over 60 life-saving upgrades to services in the areas where they are most needed.

“We have also opened 136 community diagnostic centres delivering more than five million additional scans, including for cancer.”

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Dr Claire Knight, senior health information manager at Cancer Research UK, said: "Breast screening is an important tool for spotting the early signs of breast cancer at a stage when treatment is more likely to be successful.

"The current evidence suggests that breast screening reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer by about 1,300 a year in the UK.

"Tackling barriers is important to ensure that everyone who wants to take up their screening invitation can find it easy to do so.”

The figures show breast screening uptake across England increased to 65 per cent last year from 63 per cent in 2021-22.

However, it remained well below pre-pandemic levels when 70 per cent was recorded.

Melanie Sturtevant, associate director of policy, evidence and influencing at Breast Cancer Now, said: "It’s deeply worrying that breast screening uptake remains well below the minimum 70 per cent target, as it plays a vital role in saving lives from breast cancer.

"While small improvements have been made in the percentage of women taking up their breast screening invite, this data makes clear that uptake has barely risen above the record low levels seen during COVID-19."

She added "far too many" people face barriers and difficulties accessing screening, and government investment is needed to make the programme more accessible and convenient.

An NHS spokesperson said – despite a fall in the number of women responding to invitations – the breast screening programme has eliminated the COVID backlog.

They said: "The NHS is sending out more breast screening invitations than ever before, so anyone who has received an invitation should make an appointment – it could save your life."

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