I paid £185 for private scan at age of 78
A BREAST cancer survivor was forced to go private for a mammogram after being turned down by the NHS because of her age.
Grandmother Janet Wilkie, 78, has twice beaten the disease in the past and was due her latest scan in July, only to discover the ‘entitlement’ had been withdrawn because of the pandemic.
‘The fact I couldn’t get a scan was making me anxious,’ she said. ‘I have encouraged my friends to get mammograms because although we have to self-refer from the age of 71, it is still important to have one. They can be life-saving, as I know from personal experience.
‘I am lucky in that I could afford to pay the £185 cost of having a mammogram privately, but many people can’t.
‘It is an ageist policy [to suspend scans for the over-70s] and it isn’t fair. The downgrading or suspension of certain health services in order to focus on coronavirus is going to lead to many thousands of additional deaths. This will be the hidden legacy of this time we are living through and it shouldn’t be happening.’
Mrs Wilkie, a former industry manager, was previously diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 53 and 70. Both times the disease was only picked up by routine scans because she had no symptoms.
The mother-of-two and grandmother of three lives with her husband Douglas, 81, a retired engineer, in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire.
She added: ‘It does not sit easily with me that there are Nightingale hospitals sitting empty around the country while regular hospitals prioritise services around coronavirus to the detriment of those with other conditions like cancer.’