County Council Supports NHS England Breast Screening Campaign To Help Detect Cancers Earlier

Monday, 17 March 2025 13:15

By Dominic Kureen @WriteOnDom

West Sussex County Council is supporting a major NHS England breast screening campaign, which aims to detect thousands of cancers earlier by highlighting the benefits of screening and encouraging more people to make the most of regular mammograms.

Figures from NHS England show more than four in ten women in England (46.3%) invited for the first time don’t act on their invitation.

At a meeting of Full Council in December 2024, West Sussex county councillors unanimously supported a notice of motion to increase public awareness of breast cancer, including the importance of self-examination and to encourage uptake of breast cancer screening.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. In West Sussex, although breast screening is above the national average at 71.6 % (2024), compared to 69.9 % in England, rates have declined since before the pandemic when it was 74.9 % (2019), compared to 74.5% in England. *

About one in eight women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.

The NHS Breast Screening Programme saves 1,300 lives from breast cancer each year in the UK and for every 1,000 screens, around nine breast cancers are found, diagnosed and treated earlier, offering the best chance of recovery.

Breast cancer is cancer that's found in the breasts or breast tissue in the chest. Anyone can get it, including men and transgender and non-binary people.

The NHS breast screening programme invites anyone registered with a GP as female aged from 50 up to their 71st birthday for NHS breast screening every three years.

Women will automatically get their first invite for breast screening between the ages of 50 and 53.

If you’re a transgender man, a transgender woman or a non-binary person, you may be invited automatically, or you may need to talk to your GP surgery or call the local breast screening service to ask for an appointment.

Anyone in West Sussex who is over the age of 53, including those aged 71 or over, who have not been screened in the last three years and wishes to be screened, should contact the local breast screening service on 01903 239757 or email: uhsussex.westsussexbreastscreening@nhs.net

People are encouraged to check their breasts/chest by regular self-examination (around once a month), to get to know what is normal for them. The NHS provides a ‘How to check your breast or chest guide’, which includes a helpful video showing how to do so. Any changes noticed that are not normal should be checked by your GP.