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Breast Screening
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. Since full national coverage was attained in 1991 there have been over 2.1 million screening episodes and in excess of 15,300 breast cancers diagnosed.
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 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.
The current screening method used in Scotland consists of two mammographic views at first screen and one view at subsequent screens. This will soon change to two views being taken at all screening appointments. 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. As with the extension of the age range to 70 years, this is being phased in across Scotland.
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 are a series of objectives under which minimum and target standards are specified, are the means by which this information is evaluated. The NHSBSP Performance Standards are currently for women aged 50-64 and will soon be extended to include women up to the age of 70. For statistical purposes, the age extension will be reflected in the 2010 ISD publication. The Scottish programme is also reviewed against clinical standards by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.
Statistical Publication Notice : Breast screening.
Key facts
At 31st March 2008:
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Looking at three year performance standard attendance figures, uptake remains similar to last year, at approximately 76%.
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All NHS Boards continued to exceed the minimum performance attendance standard of >70% of women invited during the previous three years.
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The proportion of cancers diagnosed pre-operatively has increased by approximately 29% since 1997, from 67.7% to 96.2%.
In 2007-08:
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10 of 11 NHSBSP (NHS Breast Screening Programme) Minimum Performance Standards were met.
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Over 173,000 women of all ages were screened within the programme.
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1,378 cases of cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages.
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1,123 invasive cancers were detected, of which 53% were less than 15mm in size. These small cancers could not have been detected by hand.
Tables and charts
Breast screening statistics up to 31st March 2008
NHSBSP Performance Standards
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Performance standards 
[21KB]: uptake, cancer detection, standardised detection ratio, recalled for assessment and early recall rates for 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2008 -
Performance standards (three-year rolling periods) [84KB]: trends in performance from 1st April 2001
Other breast screening statistics
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Uptake by NHS Board [33KB]: percentage uptake (three-year rolling periods) by NHS Board from 1st April 1991
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Biopsy results [35KB]: pre-operative diagnosis and diagnostic open biopsies rates from 1st April 1996
Deprivation screening statistics up 31st March 2002
Mortality
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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
Breast screening - National Overview (November 2003) 
[480KB] and Current status report (December 2006) [1,302KB]: reports produced by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland
BASO audit of screen detected breast cancers : an annual report comparing diagnosis, treatment and survival in each UK region against QA standards
National Services Division (NSD), which has responsibility for providing the Scottish Breast Screening Programme
Information about breast screening
Breast screening explained [344KB]: leaflet produced by Health Scotland
Ayrshire and Arran breast screening website : includes general information about the screening process
Details of data sources
Cancer Stats
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