Potentially life-saving breast cancer screening appointments for women in Newham have been delayed due to a shortage of staff to carry out the service.
An investigation by the Recorder has found a lack of radiographers to fill NHS jobs is affecting breast screening provision in east and north London.
Health chiefs have refused to say how many women have been affected, but did confirm the problems have resulted in a “small number of appointments” having to be rescheduled.
The NHS trust that runs the breast screening service said it is working hard to fill long-standing vacancies and minimise delays.
But one woman affected by the backlog condemned a vacuum of information over the crisis.
Julia Cameron, who has been trying to book her breast screening check-up since March, said: “This is appalling, especially on top of the the scandal of women a bit older than me who were never called for routine final breast screening checks. If it carries on it will cost lives.”
The 65-year-old was unable to attend a routine breast screening check-up in February.
She cancelled, but when she rang her local clinic to reschedule was told there were no appointments available.
“They just said they didn’t have the staff to provide the service there,” she said.
Julia then contacted Barts Hospital and was told the same.
She has previously had benign breast disease and is worried the delay may impact on her health.
“It’s been very stressful,” she said. “I do examine my breasts regularly and I can’t feel anything untoward, but the whole point of mammography is it’s meant to pick up tumours before you can actually feel them.”
During routine breast screening women are x-rayed using a mammogram to check for early signs of tissue changes. All women aged 50 to 70 are invited for the checks every three years.
In Newham appointments are provided by the Central and East London Breast Screening Service, which is run by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust would not comment on Julia’s case, but admitted staffing problems in a statement to the Recorder.
“It has been recognised by Public Health England that there is a national shortage of qualified mammographers and this shortage is impacting multiple services both in London and nationwide,” it said.
The Royal Free took over the breast screening service from Barts Health in April this year and said “it had immediately identified recruitment of staff to fill long-standing vacant positions as a priority”.
Health chiefs are trying to ensure women can book appointments at two mobile screening units which visit Newham and Hackney, and at clinics at Mile End Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital, the Whittington Hospital and Kentish Town Health Centre.
“In recent weeks we have managed to recruit to a number of vacant posts,” the Royal Free said.
“We are seeking to resolve any issues with the service as soon as possible and wish to reassure patients who are finding it difficult to book a screening in their preferred location we are working hard to minimise delays.”
The Recorder put detailed questions to the Royal Free and Barts Health about the scale of the appointment backlog and the number of vacant jobs, but neither trust provided answers.
The crisis comes after the charity Breast Cancer Now warned the government in September that it needed to address shortages in the mammography workforce.
The charity published a report saying the jobs crisis was a “major barrier” to delivering breast screening programmes.
Sally Greenbrook, policy manager at Breast Cancer Now, said: “We need the government to heed these wake-up calls and deliver on its promise to expand the screening workforce as soon as possible.”
The Society and College of Radiographers said it had made clear to government for many years that shortages of radiographers were inevitable unless more were trained.
Chief executive of the society Richard Evans said: “The roots of the problem are in the funding available to train radiographers. Unfortunately government did not make sufficient funds available. The shortage is now biting.”
The Recorder contacted the Department of Health for comment but received no reply.
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Should men be allowed to carry out breast screening checks?
Health unions have called for a ban on men carrying out breast screening checks to be lifted.
The Society and College of Radiographers tabled a motion to the Trades Union Congress last September calling for the rule to be abolished.
It argued the ban made no sense, particularly given the national shortage of mammographers.
Richard Evans, chief exec of the society, said: “We think it’s unnecessarily restrictive. Every women who’s attending for breast screening should have the choice. If they don’t want to be examined by a man they don’t have to be, in the same way as if you were attending a gynaecological examination. But the same example is relevant.
“If it’s ok for other intimate examinations to be conducted by a man or a woman, then we don’t see that mammography should be any different.”
Those in favour of the rule say studies in other countries have shown 9 per cent of women would not attend breast screening if there was a possibility of being seen by a male practitioner.
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Have you been affected by the appointments backlog? Contact Emma Youle on emma.youle@archant.co.uk
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