Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of women affected by the backlog in breast screening appointments that has arisen as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The National Health Service has made significant progress in reducing the backlog of women waiting for breast screening following the pausing of some services due to the pandemic. Measures such as adapting mobile breast screening units so people can be safely seen have been implemented, and all services have now restarted routine screening. People at highest risk will continue to be prioritised.

Since the beginning of June there has been a reduction from just over 468,500 women waiting to be seen to around 143,500 women at the end of August. NHS breast screening services will continue to work to screen these women. A significant challenge now is getting women to uptake their appointment invitation.