Breast screening: One million women in UK may have missed scans

Almost one million women in the UK have missed vital breast screening due to coronavirus, a leading charity has estimated.

Breast screening programmes were paused in March as the NHS focused resources on tackling the pandemic. Breast Cancer Now calculates that around 8,600 women who have not had a scan have undetected breast cancer.

The scanning programme is running again, but social distancing measures have reduced capacity. Combined with the significant backlog of women waiting for a scan, and more women starting to come forward with concerns about possible symptoms, the charity warns the service is under intense pressure.

Breast cancer diagnosed at a later stage can be harder to treat.

Breast Cancer Now estimates that a total of 986,000 women across the UK missed their mammograms due to breast screening programmes being paused. The estimate is based on the average number of women screened per month, and the approximate length of time the screening programme was suspended, in each part of the UK. This breaks down to almost 838,000 women in England, 78,000 in Scotland, 48,000 in Wales and 23,000 in Northern Ireland.

The charity is calling for an action plan and new resources to tackle the problem.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, Breast Cancer Now chief executive, said: "That nearly one million women across the UK were caught up in the backlog waiting for breast screening is cause for grave concern.

"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 Covid-19 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."

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Source: BBC News, 30 September 2020

Breast Cancer Now press release