Over half of women miss breast screening

Since screening started at the mobile unit at the Thornbury Centre in February 1,326 women have been invited to attend but only 648 have been to date

The unit will be inviting around 3,000 women between February and June during its stay at the centre.

Pennine Breast Screening Unit says missing the appointments could potentially put women’s lives at risk.

Health promotion specialist Lynn Clark said: “Women who come for screening are grateful that we can offer this vital health check locally. But some women are missing out on breast screening and putting their health at risk.

“We’d like to encourage these women to come along for their appointments as the unit is going to be based at the Thornbury Centre on a daily basis until June.

“We’d also like to stress that if a woman can’t make the allotted time, they can always telephone to rearrange the appointment – attending this session may save your life.”

A free NHS breast screening appointment is offered to all women aged 50 to 70 every three years as the risk of breast cancer increases with age. Eighty per cent of breast cancers occur in women over 50 years of age.

The majority of women who undergo breast screening are given the all clear within two weeks.

Shaheeda Shaikh, one of the unit’s specially-trained radiographers whose job it is to X-ray women on the mobile unit, said: “If cancer is found early enough the outcome for a woman can be much better and screening can detect changes up to two years before symptoms appear.”