Breast screening in Wales needs urgent attention. Here's how we're taking action to improve things.
In this section
Breast screening data in Wales
Early diagnosis of breast cancer saves lives. But the latest screening data shows that only 69.5% of women who were invited for screening attended their appointment. This is below the 70% minimum standard and far below the 80% target which has been achieved in other areas in the UK.
Also, only 63.4% of women in Wales invited for their first breast screening appointment attended. We know that those who miss their first appointment are less likely to attend in the future.
Wales has only just now published their 2022 - 2023 data, while the other UK nations published their data in 2024. This lack of transparency means Wales is missing important insights into how its breast screening programme is currently performing.
The importance of finding breast cancer early
The reality is that based on the latest figures, if the 80% target been met, 15,871 more women would have undergone routine screening. And an estimated additional 154 breast cancers would have been found. This means more women would have had the best chance of being diagnosed at an early stage when survival rates are highest.
Breast Test Wales, who provide screening services in Wales, are working to improve the uptake of screening. But it’s clear that we need more strategic and ambitious change to truly deliver convenient, flexible and fair access to breast screening.
Screening and health inequalities
The Welsh Government should also commit to addressing inequalities in communities with lower rates of access to breast screening, such as women living in more deprived areas or from minority ethnic communities.
With the Public Health Wales Screening Equity Strategy ending this year, we need to see a new strategy to address these inequalities.
What we’re doing and how you can help
We’re calling on the Welsh government to make a strategic commitment to support and enable Public Health Wales and Breast Test Wales to improve uptake and reduce inequalities in access to the breast screening. We're calling on the government to:
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Fund and support the delivery of a breast screening awareness campaign in Wales, with a focus on areas and communities with the lowest uptake, to promote breast screening and its importance
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Support the breast screening programme to provide more convenient, flexible routes into breast screening services, ensuring that systems and sufficient staffing is in place to provide multiple options to arrange appointments
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Enable improved and regular reporting of breast screening uptake data, bringing the annual statistical reporting in line with the timescale of other UK nations. This should include improving data collection and reporting on uptake by minority ethnic communities and other underserved groups
We want to see these commitments outlined in a new Screening Equity Strategy.
We continue to work with Public Health Wales and Breast Test Wales to ensure more women from all communities across Wales have equitable access to breast screening. But it's vital that we get a strategic commitment from the Welsh Government to ensure they have the resources and support to deliver impactful change within the programme.
Help us improve breast screening uptake in Wales
Add your name on the Senedd website and help drive change. We need 10,000 signatures to be considered for a debate, so your signature will really count.