Steve Brine MP for Winchester and Chandler's Ford attended Breast Cancer Now’s event in parliament, on International Women’s Day, to back the charity’s #NoTimeToWaste campaign calling for vital government investment in the breast screening programme.
The breast screening programme is at breaking point without the resources needed to meet increasing demand and (Name) MP is joining Breast Cancer Now to urge the government to invest in breast screening to save women’s lives from breast cancer.
At the charity event (Name) MP was joined by Breast Cancer Now Ambassador Amanda Mealing, who has had breast cancer, and heard from Breast Cancer Now CEO Baroness Delyth Morgan as she shared the charity’s blueprint for the transformation of the breast screening programme in England, to guarantee women’s access to breast screening now and in the future.
While breast screening has been key to breast cancer survival rates doubling in the last 40 years, the percentage of women taking up their invitation to breast screening in England remains worryingly below pre-COVID levels, and over one million women missed out on vital breast cancer screening last year.*
While 3.2 million women were invited for routine breast screening in England in 2021/22, only 2.1 million were screened. The proportion of women taking up their invite remains at historic lows for the second year running, with only 62.3% of women invited attending breast screening, which is a less than 1%-point improvement from attendance in 2020/21 (61.8%).*
The sustained drop in uptake for breast screening also comes after a decade of steady decline in screening attendance pre-COVID and the switch to an open invite system, which has made it harder for women to arrange and attend screening.
Steve Brine MP, Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: “Breast screening is a vital tool for detecting breast cancer early, which is crucial as the sooner it’s diagnosed the better the chance of treatment being successful.
“It is deeply concerning that in (constituency)**, only (uptake %) of women invited for breast screening attended within six months of their invitation.
“I am calling on the Government to invest in breast screening to guarantee women’s access and ensure the programme can continue to be a powerful tool for early diagnosis.”
Baroness Delyth Morgan, CEO at Breast Cancer Now, said: “Our incredible NHS staff continue to go above and beyond to provide the best standard of care for breast cancer patients, but women will continue to be denied the best chance of timely breast cancer diagnosis and treatment until the government shows it’s serious about fixing the screening programme. This means taking decisive action to remove barriers to screening, ring-fence investment, fill workforce gaps and bring the programme into the 21st century to guarantee women’s right to accessible, equitable and effective breast screening.
“We welcome Steve Brine joining us to call on the government to invest in guaranteeing women’s access to breast screening and anyone looking to lend their support can sign Breast Cancer Now’s petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/632824”
