Breast screening: identifying and reducing inequalities
Guidance and shared practice for breast screening providers, commissioners and other stakeholders on addressing inequalities.
Applies to England
Documents
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.
Updates to this page
Last updated 27 September 2024 + show all updates
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Added clarification that publication was previously published by Public Health England.
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Removed outdated PHE/Screening helpdesk references.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
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Removal of easy read letter templates and replacement with link to new accessible format informed choice letter content publication.
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Addition of easy read letter templates for a normal breast screening result, and a technical recall.
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Addition of recall to assessment easy read letter template
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First published.