Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to address the number of screenings for breast cancer delayed following the covid-19 outbreak.

Where screening appointments have been delayed due to COVID-19, NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with breast cancer screening providers to ensure services are restored as soon and as safely as possible.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are also working with Public Health England to prioritise appointments for those individuals who are most at risk of breast cancer and ways to make best use of the capacity available. This includes working on a tool that will enable local providers to model capacity against demand for breast screening and identify where targeted actions are needed to increase access to appointments.

Funding has also been made available to local teams to adapt mobile breast screening units so that appointments can go ahead safely.