Major review ordered after breast screening blunders

A MAJOR review of the national breast screening service has been announced by the Scottish Government.

It follows two blunders in which thousands of women did not receive invitations for cancer checks.

Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick said the programme ‘needs to adapt to meet demand’.

The review – to be carried out by NHS Scotland’s National Services Division – would examine the pressures it faces and future options for delivery. It is expected to take around a year.

Women aged between 50 and 70 are invited for screening every three years. Those over 70 can refer themselves.

But in 2017, it emerged that 3,831 women had not received invitations, some of them for more than nine years, because of an IT glitch that failed to spot they had changed GPs or moved house.

Last year, it emerged another 1,761 women were not sent an invitation for a screening which they were supposed to receive before turning 71. Women are screened in clinics or mobile units around the country to detect cancer before a lump or other symptoms appear. This increases the chance of successful treatment – but just 72 per cent of those invited for a mammogram take up the offer.

Mr FitzPatrick said: ‘We know breast screening saves lives and we want our programme to be as effective as possible. The Scottish Breast Screening Programme needs to adapt to meet current demand.’

Ashleigh Simpson, policy and campaigns manager for Scotland at charity Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘This review is a much-needed and positive step forward.’