Breast Cancer Screening

Chris Skidmore Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hunt]

Yes, I am happy to give that assurance. The number of people affected is only an estimate at the moment, but there will obviously be great interest in the House and in the country in what the actual number ends up being.

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

An additional 200,000 to 300,000 women could be seeking breast cancer screening within the next six months, which works out roughly at an additional 2,000 women a day. What reassurances can the Secretary of State give to the women who were due a screening anyway that their treatment will not be delayed as a result of the additional need?

[Mr Hunt]

That is an important question. One of our top priorities has been to construct a resolution to the problem that will not have an impact on the regular screening programme for women between the ages of 50 and 70, which is so important. All I can say is that a huge amount of trouble has been taken to try to ensure that we are putting additional capacity into the system to deal with the extra work.