Not enough money spent on breast screening
 Trade unionists called on the Chancellor to make money available to extend the breast screening programme to ensure that all women 50 years of age or older are examined at least once every three years.
A unanimous vote at the recent TUC Congress in support of a Breakthrough Breast Cancer campaign to improve the programme followed an impassioned speech by Zena Mitton, the SoR President-Elect.
“Every year 1.5 million women are screened and 12,000 are identified as having breast cancer. Thanks to the programme, they can be treated immediately,” she said.
“However, even though every woman over 50 is supposed to be screened every three years, the reality is that many are only seen once every five years. This shortfall is service delivery, caused by a lack of radiographers and resources, will get worse as the number of women aged 50-plus continues to rise.”
There will be a 20 per cent increase in the population of women aged 50 to 70 years of age between now and 2025.
“Government spending on the breast screening programme has to increase so that it continues to be as effective and save even more lives than it does now,” Zena commented.
The wording of the motion at Congress is below:
Motion 42
Congress welcomes recent advances in the treatment of breast cancer such as herceptin and notes the vital role unions played in supporting their members so that decisions on prescribing the drug were made on clinical grounds and not on cost.
Congress applauds the tremendous work of radiographers and other NHS staff in making the NHS Breast Screening Programme which saves 1400 lives a year so successful. Congress notes this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Forrest report which led to the founding of the NHS Breast Screening Programme and calls on the TUC General Council to back Breakthrough Breast Cancers new campaign to improve the effectiveness of the screening programme.
Congress recognises that in line with the recommendations of experts, the NHS breast screening programme aims to screen eligible women once every three years but, in reality, too many women are forced to wait longer. Congress further recognises the main reason for these delays is often a lack of capacity in the NHS Breast Screening Programme.
Congress notes there are a growing number of women becoming eligible for breast screening, and that the Government expects this increase to peak in 2015, resulting in a 20 per cent increase in women aged 50 to 70, in England, between 2005 and 2025. Congress calls on the TUC General Council to support Breakthroughs campaign to ensure the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review increases the capacity of the NHS Breast Screening Programme to meet this demographic challenge.
Mover: Society of Radiographers
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