Missed breast cancer checks

Thousands of women in the Canterbury area missed their last screening for breast cancer, NHS figures show. Of the 28,685 women aged between 50 and 70 in the Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group area who were invited for a screening in the three years to the end of March, 77% of them took up the offer. This means 6,599 are not up to date with their checks, which, by detecting tumours before they are large enough to feel, give a better chance of survival. Dr Anne Mackie, director of screening at Public Health England, said it was “concerning” that uptake has fallen. She continued: “We are working hard with NHS and local community healthcare colleagues to understand why this might be and to make appointments as easy as possible to attend for all women who want to get screened.”