Almost a million British women have missed a breast cancer screening appointment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Guardian reports a charity has estimated. Breast Cancer Now said that thousands of cancers could now be undetected, with their diagnoses delayed.
Breast cancer screening services were paused during the height of the pandemic to reduce the risk of the spread and to help free up emergency National Health Service (NHS) resources.
The report says with services resuming, the charity has expressed concern over the number of women caught up in the backlog.
The charity has called on NHS bodies across the UK and the government to set out how they plan to tackle an anticipated rise in demand for imaging and diagnostics.
[link url="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/sep/30/charity-says-nearly-a-million-women-missed-breast-cancer-check"]Full report in The Guardian[/link]