More Midlands women up to date with breast screening
The percentage of women in the Midlands aged between 53 and 71 attending a breast screening appointment in the last three years has increased to 71.5% in figures released today.
There were 1,282,591 women eligible in the three years ending 31 March 2025 and 916,435 attended. In 2024 coverage was 70.1% and in 2023 67.05%.
Figures by local authority are below:
| West Midlands Local authority | As of 31 March 2024 | As of 31 March 2025 | ||||||
| Eligible population | Number of women screened | Coverage %- less than 3 years since last test | Eligible population | Number of women screened | Coverage %- less than 3 years since last test | |||
| Birmingham | 108,648 | 63,993 | 58.9 | 109,767 | 66,662 | 60.7 | ||
| Coventry | 33,767 | 21,139 | 62.6 | 34,297 | 21,862 | 63.7 | ||
| Dudley | 36,935 | 26,130 | 70.7 | 37,360 | 26,577 | 71.1 | ||
| Herefordshire, County of | 26,506 | 19,460 | 73.4 | 26,674 | 20,287 | 76.1 | ||
| Sandwell | 35,386 | 22,550 | 63.7 | 35,869 | 23,390 | 65.2 | ||
| Shropshire | 44,310 | 33,415 | 75.4 | 44,781 | 34,941 | 78.0 | ||
| Solihull | 26,018 | 18,390 | 70.7 | 26,227 | 19,035 | 72.6 | ||
| Staffordshire | 110,994 | 83,534 | 75.3 | 112,081 | 86,016 | 76.7 | ||
| Stoke-on-Trent | 27,770 | 19,100 | 68.8 | 28,021 | 19,681 | 70.2 | ||
| Telford and Wrekin | 21,832 | 15,801 | 72.4 | 22,382 | 16,511 | 73.8 | ||
| Walsall | 30,704 | 20,586 | 67.0 | 31,084 | 20,700 | 66.6 | ||
| Warwickshire | 72,781 | 52,080 | 71.6 | 73,857 | 53,441 | 72.4 | ||
| Wolverhampton | 29,389 | 17,700 | 60.2 | 29,648 | 18,350 | 61.9 | ||
| Worcestershire | 77,088 | 58,348 | 75.7 | 77,616 | 61,757 | 79.6 |
| East Midlands Local authority | As of 31 March 2024 | As of 31 March 2025 | ||||||
| Eligible population | Number of women screened | Coverage % – less than 3 years since last test | Eligible population | Number of women screened | Coverage % – less than 3 years since last test | |||
| Derby | 27,531 | 19,296 | 70.1 | 27,772 | 19,724 | 71.0 | ||
| Derbyshire | 105,337 | 81,637 | 77.5 | 106,614 | 83,933 | 78.7 | ||
| Leicester | 34,684 | 18,459 | 53.2 | 34,958 | 18,600 | 53.2 | ||
| Leicestershire | 86,928 | 63,455 | 73.0 | 87,919 | 64,253 | 73.1 | ||
| Lincolnshire | 102,233 | 70,741 | 69.2 | 103,497 | 74,478 | 72.0 | ||
| North Northamptonshire | 42,194 | 30,691 | 72.7 | 42,822 | 32,094 | 74.9 | ||
| Nottingham | 28,813 | 17,952 | 62.3 | 29,064 | 18,062 | 62.1 | ||
| Nottinghamshire | 103,965 | 77,986 | 75.0 | 105,139 | 77,354 | 73.6 | ||
| Rutland | 5,233 | 4,077 | 77.9 | 5,269 | 3,990 | 75.7 | ||
| West Northamptonshire | 48,927 | 33,805 | 69.1 | 49,873 | 34,737 | 69.7 |
As a result of screening across the Midlands in the last 12 months, more than 3,500 cancers (3,552) were detected – 8.8 cases per 1,000 women screened – an increase from 2,985 from data from March 2024.
This means hundreds of more women in the Midlands were able to access treatment earlier when there are more options available and treatment is more likely to be effective.
Despite this progress, the latest statistics from the NHS Breast Screening Programme show that almost three in ten women did not take up the offer of screening.
Local screening services are working with NHS England to improve uptake, including targeted outreach in lower-attending areas, reminder texts and expanded use of mobile screening units to bring services closer to home.
The NHS also launched its first-ever national breast screening campaign in February last year to support even more women to come forward.
Backed by charities including Breast Cancer Now, the campaign featured public figures including Victoria Derbyshire, Julia Bradbury and Shirley Ballas who all shared personal messages to encourage women to attend.
During the campaign period, the NHS saw a huge increase in people accessing information online, with tens of thousands of women visiting NHS breast screening pages in a single week and clicks to the screening service finder rising sharply.
Stephanie Beaumont, Head of Public Health Commissioning & Operations – Screening for the West Midlands said: “Breast screening saves lives. It is encouraging to see more women attending but we know there is still more to do to encourage those who do not. We are working on making it as convenient as possible for women to access the service by using mobile units which can be located in supermarket car parks and community centres as well as hospital-based sites.
“If you receive an invitation, please don’t ignore it. It is an appointment that could save your life.”
Women aged 50 up to the age of 71 are invited for breast screening every three years, with appointments provided locally through clinics and mobile units.
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.