This dataset presents the percentage of eligible women aged 50 to 70 who received a breast screening test result within six months of being invited for screening. The data is collected through the NHS England Breast Screening Programme (BSP) and reflects the uptake of breast cancer screening services across general practices in England. It is a key indicator of early detection efforts and public engagement with cancer prevention services.
Rationale
Breast cancer screening is vital for early detection and treatment, significantly improving survival rates. Increasing screening uptake helps identify cancers at an earlier, more treatable stage. This indicator supports efforts to monitor and improve participation in national cancer screening programmes, particularly among eligible women aged 50 to 70.
Numerator
The numerator is the number of women aged 50 to 70, registered to the practice on the last day of the review period, who were invited for breast screening in the previous 12 months and had a screening test result recorded within six months of the invitation. This data is sourced from NHS England’s Breast Screening Programme (BSP).
Denominator
The denominator is the total number of women aged 50 to 70, registered to the practice on the last day of the review period, who were invited for breast screening in the previous 12 months. This is also sourced from the BSP dataset.
Caveats
Data for between 1 (0.55%) and 14 (7.7%) of GP practices is missing for each year from 2009/10 to 2021/22, except for 2015/16. These practices were excluded from the 2012/13 value calculation. Additionally, the indicator may be based on a small number of patients for some practices, which could affect reliability at the local level.
External References
Public Health England – Fingertips Tool
Localities Explained
This dataset contains data based on either the resident locality or registered locality of the patient, a distinction is made between resident locality and registered locality populations:
- Resident Locality refers to individuals who live within the defined geographic boundaries of the locality. These boundaries are aligned with official administrative areas such as wards and Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs).
- Registered Locality refers to individuals who are registered with GP practices that are assigned to a locality based on the Primary Care Network (PCN) they belong to. These assignments are approximate—PCNs are mapped to a locality based on the location of most of their GP surgeries. As a result, locality-registered patients may live outside the locality, sometimes even in different towns or cities.
This distinction is important because some health indicators are only available at GP practice level, without information on where patients actually reside. In such cases, data is attributed to the locality based on GP registration, not residential address.
Click here to explore more from the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Partnerships Outcome Framework.