Skip to main content
Guidance

Breast screening: identifying and reducing inequalities

Guidance and shared practice for breast screening providers, commissioners and other stakeholders on addressing inequalities.

Updates to this page

From:
NHS England
Published:
23 September 2021
Last updated:
27 September 2024
Show all updates

  1. Added clarification that publication was previously published by Public Health England.

  2. Removed outdated PHE/Screening helpdesk references. If you need to access alternate formats or specific questions about national screening practice and policy for England please contact - england.contactus@nhs.net

  3. Removal of easy read letter templates and replacement with link to new accessible format informed choice letter content publication.

  4. Addition of easy read letter templates for a normal breast screening result, and a technical recall.

  5. Addition of recall to assessment easy read letter template

  6. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Breast screening: identifying inequalities

HTML

Breast screening: reducing inequalities

HTML

Details

This guidance is to support breast screening providers, commissioners and other partners in identifying and reducing inequalities throughout the breast screening pathway.

It includes information and resources on how to:

  • identify inequalities
  • reduce inequalities

This guidance includes recommendations from a research project, funded by the Department of Health and Social Care through the Health and Wellbeing Alliance, to identify why some people from groups experiencing marginalisation and exclusion do not attend breast screening, and how to improve the experiences of those who are.

Many thanks to the following groups, who worked on the project:

  • Faith Action
  • Friends
  • Families and Travellers
  • Latin American Women’s Rights Service
  • Macmillan
  • Association of Mental Health Providers on behalf of the Mental Health Consortia
  • Race Equality Foundation
  • The Lived Experience Alliance
  • The National LGB&T Partnership

The Cancer Research UK resource Reducing inequalities in cancer screening also has information and advice on identifying and reducing inequalities.

NHS breast screening providers can download and use the breast screening easy guide and accessible format informed choice letter templates when communicating with people with learning disabilities and others who struggle with written English.

This publication was previously published by Public Health England, which closed on 30 September 2021.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Related content