Breast Cancer Screening: Bassetlaw

Tessa Munt Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jo White]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution and agree that it is worrying that only half of the trusts in England are meeting the national target of 70% of eligible women going for their screening, but next year we hit a milestone in that it is estimated that almost 1 million women will be invited for screening. I welcome the fact that NHS England is actively encouraging more women to book and attend their screening. Will the Minister provide more detail on that?

To be honest, in Bassetlaw I cannot wait for a national operation to kick in. Last month I launched the “Bassetlaw love your boobs, get them checked” campaign, supporting local women and encouraging women to go for their breast screening. I pay tribute to the wonderful Bassetlaw women who have been active in the campaign—women such as Liz Rew and Maria Charlesworth, who found lumps in their breasts and went for their screening. Barbara Baldwin and Claire Previn joined my campaign as they have had friends taken too soon by breast cancer; I do not want anyone else to have to go through that. Lynn Dixon from Bassetlaw had breast cancer in her family and was first diagnosed at the age of 36 after finding a lump, and she has just recently found another lump and was screened. This week she is facing further treatment for breast cancer. My thoughts and love are with Lynn right now. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Jenny Bailey is a former NHS nurse and midwife in Bassetlaw who had her breast cancer identified following routine screening. The women from Bassetlaw are amazing, using their life experiences to join the fighting spirit, encouraging their friends, family and neighbours to get screened.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Lady very much for introducing this debate, because it is so important. I could not agree more that screening is incredibly important, but we also need to make sure that modern radiotherapy treatment is available for those whose breast cancer has been detected. NHS England has degraded the availability of radiotherapy treatment in many regions over the last 10 years. I understand that breast cancer patients from Bassetlaw have to travel over an hour, as they do in my area, to receive the radiotherapy that they need. What might the hon. Lady say about the Government’s new cancer plan? I hope it goes a long way to resolving the problem of getting access to radiotherapy, which is so effective.

[Jo White]

I welcome the hon. Member’s contribution. Women in Bassetlaw have to travel all the way to Sheffield once they have been diagnosed to have treatment and radiotherapy. That is a long journey and it would be better if the cancer could be treated in Bassetlaw. I wait to hear how that can be achieved in future years, because it is so important for people to be treated close to home.