NHS launches first-ever breast screening campaign to help detect thousands of cancers earlier

Thousands more breast cancers could be detected earlier in England next year in a major new NHS drive to support more women to attend potentially life-saving breast screening.

The NHS in England has today launched its first-ever awareness campaign to highlight the benefits of screening and encourage more women to make the most of regular mammograms, as figures show more than four in ten (46.3%) invited for the first time don't act on their invitation. 

The campaign – supported by leading charity Breast Cancer Now – launches with a new advert across TV, radio and online to highlight that screening can detect any cancers as early as possible, while providing reassurance and relief to millions of women who get the all-clear. Cancer Research UK has also voiced their support for the campaign.

New NHS estimates suggest that if screening attendance could be improved to 80% of those eligible next year (2025/26), nearly a million more women (around 925,000) could be screened, compared to 2022/23 – with over 7,500 additional breast cancers detected at an earlier stage, when they are more treatable.

The landmark NHS campaign sees celebrities including Newsnight anchor Victoria Derbyshire, broadcaster and presenter Julia Bradbury, and Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas write ‘unofficial' invitation letters to women about their personal experiences of screening to reassure them and encourage them to attend. They are joined by cancer survivors, NHS staff and TV doctors in sharing letters in a number of moving films launched today.

In her open letter to women invited for screening, Victoria Derbyshire said: “I've had breast screening multiple times. For me it was painless and I was happy to be screened; my motivation was to make sure any irregularities were picked up – because the earlier breast cancer is detected, the greater the chance of survival. When I was diagnosed, I thought I wouldn't get to see my two little boys grow up (then aged 8 and 11). I thought I wouldn't get to grow old with my partner Mark. I'm still here thanks to the skill of the NHS – 2025 will be 10 years since I was diagnosed. Breast screening might just help save your life. Please go.”

The campaign comes as a new survey of 2,000 women for the NHS showed that almost 40% rarely or never talk about breast screening with their female friends and families, and almost a quarter (24%) of women said they wouldn't attend if they didn't already have symptoms like a lump.

More than a fifth (21%) also said that embarrassment at being topless in front of someone would prevent them from attending. Concerns about screening being painful (18.5%) also feature. However, 83.2% said they would attend breast screening if they were invited.

NHS national cancer director, Dame Cally Palmer, said: “Breast screening detects breast cancers earlier and saves lives – but we know for many women there can be lots of reasons why they might be reluctant to come forward, or why it's not top of the priority list in their very busy lives. That's why the NHS has today launched its first-ever campaign to support more women to make the most of breast screening and to address some of the misgivings and misconceptions they might have.

“We hope that by hearing other women's stories, it will reassure them and remind them why screening is so important. Cancer survival is at an all-time high in England thanks to a real focus on early detection – and we want hundreds of thousands more women to access screening so that any breast cancers can be spotted as early as possible to help save more lives.”  

Dr Louise Wilkinson, NHS national speciality advisor for breast screening said: “It's incredibly important that women feel engaged with breast screening and understand why it matters. This campaign is about sharing experiences and understanding why some women might be reluctant to come forward, but we want to help them work through any reservations so we can encourage even more women to take up their invitation and ultimately save lives.”

Thanks to the hard work of NHS teams, the number of women attending breast screening has risen since 2020/21, with latest data for 2022/23 showing that 4.30 million women had been screened in the last three years (66.4% of those eligible).

Latest data on the proportion of the number of women who attend screening after being invited (uptake) shows around a third are still not attending, which increases to 46.3% of those invited for the first time.

When Liz Jadav from Kennington in London turned 50, she received an appointment letter for her first breast screening. After her appointment, she was asked to return for more tests. Although Liz had no symptoms and was otherwise fit and healthy, the results confirmed that she had breast cancer. She was thankful that the cancer had been caught at an early stage, and to be able to start discussing treatment straight away.

Liz had been about to start a job with the Royal Shakespeare Company, so her first question after diagnosis was, 'How is this going to affect my work?' Her employer was very supportive. Liz attended the first day of rehearsals, underwent surgery to remove the cancer on the second day, and was back with the company by the end of the week. Following the success of the surgery, Liz received radiotherapy; she will continue taking a daily pill for a few more years to reduce the risk of cancer returning, and attends yearly mammograms.

Liz said: “I think lots of women are worried about a cancer diagnosis and this puts them off from going to their screening appointment. But the mammogram isn't cancer. The mammogram is knowledge. Without my mammogram I wouldn't have known that I had breast cancer. I wouldn't have been offered treatment. And lots of other things might not have happened. I'd say, when you're invited for breast screening, make the time to go to your appointment. You'll be glad you did.'

Claire Rowney, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, said: “We're absolutely thrilled at NHS England's announcement today that they're funding the first-ever breast screening awareness campaign to encourage more women to attend breast screening when invited - for too long thousands of women have missed out on the vital screening that saves lives from breast cancer.

 “We know there are many reasons behind women not taking up their screening invite, and that uptake is lower amongst specific groups - including those living in more deprived areas and from certain minority ethnic communities - driving inequalities in early diagnosis and breast cancer survival. As such, NHS England's plans to focus especially on reaching women who are less likely to get screened and often face additional barriers to attending, is so crucial to the success of this campaign.  

“We look forward to working closely with NHS England to maximise the impact of this campaign and ensure screening is more accessible to everyone who is eligible.” 

Jo Harby, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: “Every day, more than 150 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK. Thanks to the national breast screening programme, thousands of cancer cases are detected at an earlier stage when treatment is more likely to be successful. Improving access for people who want to attend screening is vital, and using digital tools, such as the NHS app, is one way to help with this.

“It's your choice whether to attend breast screening, and that's why it's so important to read the information that comes with your invitation. Screening is for people without symptoms - if you notice any changes that aren't normal for you, don't wait for your next screening invite, talk to your doctor.”

Public Health Minister, Ashley Dalton, said: "As someone living with metastatic breast cancer, I know the importance of screening and early diagnosis. I urge all women to come forward for screening when they are contacted by the NHS – it could be life saving.

“Over the coming year, the investment and reforms this government is making will see an extra 100,000 patients are seen on time. We have also started using the latest AI technologies to help catch the disease earlier.

 “We will publish a dedicated national cancer plan this year, to make Britain a world leader in saving lives, and to make the NHS fit for the future through our Plan for Change.”

Mary Kelly Foy, the Member of Parliament for the City of Durham in the North East of England, said: “I'm a breast cancer survivor. The reason why I'm here today is because I took up my breast cancer screening invitation at the start of 2024.

“It was caught early, which meant that by the summer of 2024 I was cancer free. Of course, it was heartbreaking to discover that I had breast cancer, but it's important to remember that the vast majority of women who have a screening won't have it.

“When you receive your invitation, please don't put it off. It could just save your life.”

Last year alone, NHS breast screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, which otherwise may not have been diagnosed or treated until a later stage, and the most comprehensive review to date found around 1,300 deaths are prevented each year by the breast screening programme.

Women registered with a GP are automatically invited for NHS breast screening for the first time between the ages of 50 and 53, then every three years until their 71^st birthday – while women aged 71 and over can self-refer for screening.

While most women attending screening will receive peace of mind that they have no early signs of breast cancer, the NHS encouraged women to ensure they continue to check their breasts regularly between their screening appointments and to get any unusual changes checked out by their GP.

Breast screening does have some risks. Some women who have screening will be diagnosed and treated for slow-growing breast cancers that may never otherwise have been found or caused them harm. Mammograms also do not always find a cancer that is there, but most people feel the benefits of breast screening outweigh the possible risks. 

As part of efforts to drive uptake of breast screening, the NHS is launching a new “ping and book” service, with women already starting to get alerts to their phones via the NHS App to remind them they are due or overdue an appointment, with new functionality being developed to enable millions to book screening directly through the NHS App next year.

The NHS is diagnosing more people than ever before with cancer at an early stage, and latest monthly figures show the NHS met the cancer faster diagnosis standard in November for the eighth month out of the last ten, with 77% of people getting the all clear or a cancer diagnosis within four weeks.

NHS England confirmed last month that the performance standard would be increased so that 80% of patients receive a diagnosis or have cancer ruled out within 4 weeks by March 2026. This change will see around 100,000 more patients who are referred for cancer checks receive a diagnosis or the all-clear within 4 weeks next year.