04 October 2010
Jersey’s breast screening programme is exceeding national standards for breast cancer detection according to independent analysis from the UK’s Cancer Screening Evaluation Unit.
Almost 4000 women were screened for breast cancer at the General Hospital in the year ending 31 March 2010. During this period, the Cancer Screening Evaluation Unit, which is part of the UK Institute of Cancer Research, measured the performance of Jersey’s screening programme against national and international standards. The analysis confirmed that 279 cases of breast cancer have been detected by the service since it began. Further statistical analysis, over a 5 year period, confirmed that the service’s ability to detect cancers was higher than national performance standards.
Breast Screening Programme Director, Dr Pat Nisbet, explains the importance of the results “Being diagnosed with breast cancer is devastating news for any woman however breast cancer is treatable if detected early. This independent analysis shows that we are doing really well at detecting breast cancer early in women who attend for screening.”
The breast screening service invites women aged between 50 and 69 who are registered on the programme to attend at the hospital every two years for free routine mammograms. However, Public Health’s Head of Healthcare Programmes, Dr Linda Diggle, is urging more women over the age of 50 to register with the programme.
“We know there are many women aged 50 to 69 who haven’t registered for free mammography screening. Unfortunately, we don’t have a database of all eligible women in the Island so we have to rely on women phoning us with their details in order to get them onto the programme in the first place. Once women are registered, we will routinely recall them every 2 years. So we would encourage women in this age group, who haven’t registered to do so by calling 443790.
“We’re also happy to offer breast screening to women over the age of 70, however we know that the attendance rate falls after that age so we ask that they telephone us to make an appointment. If women are aged over 75, we advise they talk to their GP first to see if mammography is appropriate for them."
Breast screening information
gov.je