Breast Screening Programme, England Provisional Statistics 2018-19

The percentage of women in the population who are eligible¹ for screening at a particular point in time (31 March 2019 in this report), who have had a test with a recorded result at least once within the screening round, i.e. in the previous three years. Coverage² is assessed using the 53-70 age group as women may be first invited at any time between their 50th and 53rd birthday.

National coverage is calculated from the KC63 central return data set as follows:

Number of women screened in the last three years

--------------------------------------------------------------------------     x 100

        Number of women eligible for screening

The percentage of women invited for screening in the year, who were screened adequately³ within six months of invitation.

National uptake is calculated from the KC62 central return data set as follows:

Number of women screened adequately

-----------------------------------------------------------    x 100

Number of women invited for screening

The number of women with cancer detected per 1,000 women screened.

National cancer detection rates are calculated from the KC62 central return data set as follows:

        Total number of women with cancer

------------------------------------------------------------------    x 1,000

Total number of women adequately screened

Full information on the data sources referenced above can be found in the Quality Statement document which accompanies this publication.

1. Women are eligible for screening if they are in the screening age range unless they have had a bilateral mastectomy.
2. Please note the following when interpreting the coverage statistics presented in this report:
   • Statistics include all women currently registered with an NHS GP practice and others who are not registered with a GP practice but who are otherwise known to the NHS (e.g. through presentation at a breast screening unit or other hospital attendance). The total number of women who are not registered with a GP or otherwise known to the NHS is unknown and it is therefore not possible to estimate how overall coverage rates might be affected by this group.
   • Some women who cannot be allocated to a local authority (LA) are known to the NHS and are recorded on the National Health Application and Infrastructure Services (NHAIS (Open Exeter)) system but are not included in national figures. These women, aged 53-70 as at 31^st March 2019, account for a small proportion of the total resident population (less than 0.5%) and do not have a significant impact on the national coverage figures.
   • Prior to 2012-13, the number of women screened excluded women who had been invited under a short-term recall invitation. The number of women invited under a short term recall is relatively small and these women will, by definition, already have been screened within the last three years, so this change is expected to have little or no impact on national coverage.    
3. A technically adequate screen is defined as one which gives sufficient detail to allow a decision to be made to refer for assessment to return to a routine recall status.
4. Uptake is based only on women invited for screening and excludes self/GP referrals and short-term recalls.