Breast Cancer Screening

I enclose details of today’s statement from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care about Breast Cancer Screening. Any constituents who have concerns should call the breast screening helpline number on 0800 169 2692:

2 Comments

  1. Helen Smith
    May 3, 2018

    This really isn’t Mr Hunt’s fault.

    This is a tricky issue but I understand Switzerland is recommending stopping screening women with mammography altogether. The current thinking is it over diagnoses harmless tumours, thereby giving the appearance of preventing deaths, but labelling women as cancer sufferers. Worse these women are treated with unnecessary operations, chemo and radiotherapy, all of which carry risks. Meanwhile a 3 yearly screening easily misses fast growing more deadly tumours. In some women the radiation can also cause a breast cancer, although this is rare.

    I would hope that this unfortunate occurrence will be put to some use, and the data used as a large scale ‘control’ group against which screened women can be compared to see if indeed there is any benefit to regular screening or if as some believe it does more harm than good, at considerable expense.

    For those women now diagnosed it might help to believe that not being called for their final screening may well have made no difference to their life span, just meant they lived with cancer longer. I hope so, cancer is bad enough without thinking you could have been spared if someone hadn’t messed up somewhere.

  2. alan jutson
    May 3, 2018

    So yet another Government (of all colours) contract computer IT error.

    How many more over the years. !

    Thoughtful to post the letter by way of explanation lets hope the outcome is better than anticipated.

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