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Cancer

Scottish Breast Screening Programme

The UK was one of the first countries in the world to establish a national population-based breast screening programme. There are six static screening centres in Scotland supported by nineteen mobile units. The first screening centres became operational in 1988 and in 2008 the NHS Breast Screening Programme in Scotland celebrated its 20th Anniversary; full national coverage was attained in 1991.

The UK National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP), a UK-wide programme of free mammographic screening for breast cancer, was introduced in 1988 following a recommendation from a working party established by the four UK Departments of Health and chaired by Sir Patrick Forrest. The working party concluded that there was evidence that screening for breast cancer could reduce mortality from the disease by up to 30%.

In Scotland, women aged 50-64 years were invited for a routine screen once every three years until 2003-04, when the age range for invitation was extended to include women up to the age of 70 years. This expansion was phased in throughout the country over a three year round of screening. Women over 70 years are still screened three yearly on request.

Up until 2007-08, the screening method used in Scotland consisted of two mammographic views at first screen and one view at subsequent screens. In Better Cancer Care, An Action Plan the Scottish Government affirmed its commitment to the implementation of two view screening at every screening appointment by April 2010. In 2008-09 a phased roll out of two views commenced and was completed in March 2010.

Within Scotland (as part of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme) information and performance data are collected by each of the six screening centres and compiled by ISD on an annual basis. The NHSBSP Performance Standards, which minimum and target standards are specified, are the means by which this information is evaluated. The NHSBSP Performance Standards have been published based on women aged 50-64 to 31 March 2009. To reflect the expansion of the age range, they have been extended to include women up to the age of 70. To allow for trend analysis, NHSBSP Performance Standards based on women aged 50-70 have been produced back to 1 April 2004. Previously published trends in NHSBSP Performance Standards to 31 March 2009, for women ages 50-64, are available in the Tables and Charts section below.

The report from the most recent National Statistics publication can be found on our Publications page.

Breast screening statistics

Key facts

NHSBSP Performance Standards, at 31 March 2011:

Looking at three year performance standard attendance figures, uptake remains similar to last year, at approximately 75%.
All NHS Boards continued to exceed the minimum performance attendance standard of >70% of women invited during the previous three years.
Comparing three year combined performance figures for those women with a previous screen within 5 years of attendance, the invasive cancer detection rate has increased from 5.4 per 1,000 women screened during the period 2004-07 to 6.6 during the period 2008-11.
In 2010-11, all NHSBSP (NHS Breast Screening Programme) Minimum Performance Standards and all but 2 of the targets were met.

In 2010-11:

Approximately 1,700 cases of screen detected breast cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages.
Over 80% (1,372 cases) of cancers detected were invasive, of which over half were less than 15mm in size.
The proportion of cancers diagnosed pre-operatively remains similar to last year at 96.2%, an increase of 30% since 1997.

Tables and charts

NHSBSP Performance Standards

Performance standards [22kb] uptake, cancer detection, standardised detection ratio, recalled for assessment, early recall and benign biopsy rates for 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011.
Performance standards (three-year rolling periods) [110kb] trends in performance from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2011.
Uptake by NHS Board [27kb] percentage uptake (three-year rolling periods) by NHS Board from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2011.

Historical trends in NHSBSP Performance Standards (based on previous age range of 50-64 years).

Performance standards (three-year rolling periods) [100kb] trends in performance from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2009.
Uptake by NHS Board [39kb] percentage uptake (three-year rolling periods) by NHS Board from 1 April 1991 to 31 March 2009.

Deprivation screening statistics

Deprivation [29kb] 1 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2009.
Deprivation [24kb] 3 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2009.

Historical trends in uptake by deprivation category (based on women 50-64 years).

Deprivation [28kb] 1 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 1990 to 31 March 2008.
Deprivation [26kb] 3 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 1990 to 31 March 2008.

Other breast screening statistics

Attendance [24kb] number of women attending screening by appointment type from 1 April 1991 to 31 March 2011.
Uptake by type of invitation [23kb] percentage uptake by type of invitation from 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2011.
Biopsy results [36kb] pre-operative diagnosis and diagnostic open biopsies rates from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 2011.
Outcomes [36kb] screening outcomes from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2011.

Mortality

Breast cancer mortality [22kb] trends in mortality since the start of the screening programme.

Useful links

Breast cancer statistics: detailed incidence and mortality data, lifetime risk, prevalence and survival statistics.

NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP): general information and publications relating to breast screening in the UK.

An audit of screen detected breast cancers: for the year of screening April 2009 to March 2010: an annual report comparing diagnosis, treatment and survival in each UK region against Quality Assurance Standards.

National Services Division (NSD), which has responsibility for providing the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.

Information about breast screening

Information on the development and major policy changes relating to Breast Screening since the start of the programme available here: Milestones table Download pdf file [25kb].