Breast cancer screening

Breast cancer screening uptake data is collected to the practice level, while incidence or mortality data is not.

Nationally, screening uptake varies by deprivation and ethnicity, with poor screening uptake relating to increased mortality from breast cancer. There is a consequential small association between female breast cancer mortality and greater deprivation in England.

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities collects data from NHS Cancer Screening Programme on both the proportion of eligible people who have been screened in the last 36 months (coverage) and the proportion of those invited who screened within 6 months of their invitation (uptake). The data below refers to the coverage rather than uptake as this provides a more constant picture of how many eligible people participate in the screening programme compared to the 6 months uptake data which fluctuates as screening is only available every 3 years.

The national screening coverage target is 70% of the eligible population. Nationally the yearly average uptake, for the 10 years pre-pandemic was between 74.1% and 77.1%. Historically, in North Tyneside, breast cancer screening uptake has achieved coverage above the National average varying between 75.6% - 78.9%.

However since the Covid-19 pandemic, screening rates have decreased. This has seen North Tyneside fall below the National average of 66.2% to 56.6%. 

However, breast screening uptake and therefore coverage is not equal across the borough. There is geographical variation across the borough, with people from more affluent communities more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those from more deprived communities. (Primary Care Network PCN General Practive Data)

The data in Table 1 looks at screening coverage for 2019-2020. The data for 2020-21 is not yet reliable due to the pandemic and the impact it had on the breast screening service. The data is further impacted by screening taking place in North Tyneside in 2021-22 as data is not recorded until 6 -8 months after the screening data to record the full data set in case there is a case of breast cancer that then needs to be treated.

Participation in breast cancer screening is significantly lower amongst people with a learning disability compared to the rest of GP practice cohorts throughout North Tyneside. For most of the GP Practices, less than 6 people with a registered learning disability attended breast screening.

No other data is currently recorded around disability and either breast cancer mortality or screening uptake.