Breast Cancer Screening: Bassetlaw

Dawn Butler Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo White]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point, and I hope that the Minister has taken heed of it.

[Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)]

I was diagnosed and went through the journey of early-stage breast cancer during the covid pandemic. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that the system understands that breast cancer can present in younger women, not just in older women?

[Jo White]

I thank my hon. Friend for that point. I have sympathy for her experiences and hope that she is now fully recovered. Yes, we must be conscious that women of all ages could have breast cancer, and awareness must be raised so that women continue to check their breasts for it.

What I do know is this: breast cancer screening and early detection save lives. The earlier that breast cancer is detected, the simpler and more effective the treatment is likely to be. Between the ages of 50 and 70, on a three-year cycle, women will get a letter in the post inviting them in for screening. A chance conversation last autumn with a local GP alerted me to his concern that the number of women attending Bassetlaw hospital for screening appointments had dropped dramatically. I asked the chief executive of our local hospital trust to investigate that, and he quickly came back with some worrying figures showing that attendance had dropped in recent times to below 50% of women invited for screening. This was either due to an appointment cancellation or a no-show on the day. NHS England data shows that prior to the coronavirus pandemic 78% of women in Bassetlaw and Doncaster were going for screening. The decline is dramatic and is not unique to Bassetlaw.