Thousands missed breast cancer check

THOUSANDS of women in Rochdale missed their last screening for breast cancer, NHS figures show.

Women are invited for a breast screening every three years between the ages of 50 and 70, to try and catch cancer early.

But “troubling” figures show the proportion of women accepting the invitation is declining.

Only 66.8 per cent of the women in the Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group area due a screening in the three years to the end of March took up the offer. This means 9,262 women are not up to date with their checks.

In Rochdale the uptake rate has fallen for the second year in a row, having stood at 69.1pc in 2015/16 and it is feared some women could be years overdue.

Addie Mitchell, clinical nurse specialist at the charity Breast Cancer Care, said: “Uptake of routine screening invitations in England has been gradually slipping year-on-year. These troubling figures show we’re now only a hair’s breadth above the minimum standard.”

The breast screening programme uses an X-ray test called a mammogram to detect tumours before they are large enough to feel.

Ms Mitchell added: “While screening is not a one-stop shop, as symptoms can occur at any time, mammograms remain the most effective tool at our disposal for detecting breast cancer at the earliest possible stage.”

Donna Miller works for health and social care charity BHA, which has worked in Rochdale.

She said: “This is not a new issue and indicative of the weaknesses in the system where women are sent appointments for a national screening programme and there is no system to follow up those that do not attend.

“Research has shown a link between deprivation and screening uptake and that may be a reason for the reduction in uptake in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

“A lot of the health promotion work that we undertake is targeted at black and other minority groups and from our work we know that uptake for screening programmes is generally lower in minority communities.”