Women are called for a breast screening every three years between the ages of 50 and 70, to help detect cancer early but new statistics reveal the proportion of women receiving the invitation has decreased across England over the last decade.
Only 64.3 per cent of the 23,641 women in the Southend Clinical Commissioning Group area due to screening the three years to the end of last March took up the offer, which indicates that 8,433 women were not up to date with their checks.
The information reveals how numerous eligible women were checked at least once in the three year period, indicating that some women could be years overdue and that across England, 71.6 per cent of women eligible for a screening attended their last check.
The UK National Screening Committee stated at least 70 per cent of women sent an offer should attend, but that the NHS is anticipated to obtain an 80 per cent uptake and of those who were posted an offer in 2018-19 across England, only 71.1 per cent had attended inside six months of their invite.
This was up somewhat from the past year, which had the lowest participation rate since the current screening programme started in 2007 and about a third of the 195 Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in England failed to reach the lower target, while only one passed the 80 per cent benchmark.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of charity Breast Cancer Now, stated: “It’s promising that uptake of breast screening in England has improved slightly after reaching a decade-low last year and we hope this now continues.
“But screening uptake is still barely above the minimum target, with hundreds of thousands of women across the country not attending.
“While screening comes with some risks to be aware of, we’d encourage all women to attend their appointments when invited.”
Uptake in Southend grew slightly from 63.8 per cent in 2017-18, despite a drop nationally. Nevertheless, it’s descended from a peak of 64.8 per cent in 2010-11.
The breast screening programme uses an X-ray test called a mammogram to identify tumours before they’re large enough to feel by which discovering the disease early on gives a better likelihood of survival and while screening is an individual decision, it’s better to identify the disease before it takes a grip.
Breast cancer survival is at a record high in England with deaths falling quicker than anyplace else in Europe, thanks to earlier detection and advances in treatment and it’s vital that women attend their examination and the NHS is looking for ways to encourage the uptake, including making appointments more convenient.
