More than one in three women have missed out on vital breast cancer screening in the past three years as the Tories were accused of a “dereliction of duty”.
Analysis of NHS England figures by Labour shows that over a third (34.7%) of eligible women - those aged between 50 and 70-years-old - have not had an appointment to screen for cancerous lumps in the past three years.
Screening is vital for picking up cancer at an early stage and improving survival rates. But there are stark difference in take-up between different parts of the country.
In London, 44.5% of eligible women haven't been for a screening appointment in three years, while 37.5% in the West Midlands aren't up to date.
The best performing areas were the South East (30.5%) and South West (31%).
Official data shows the overall screening take-up has dropped from 73.1% in 2011-12 to 62.3% in 2021-22, the data shows.
It fell from 71.1% in 2019 to 69.1% in the first year of the pandemic, then plummeted to 61.8% in 2021. The latest figure shows a small improvement but indicates that uptake has not improved much since Covid.
It means that 400,000 fewer women have had vital scans since before the start of the pandemic.
Uptake was highest in the South East at 67.7% and lowest in London at 50.4%. In some council areas such as Kensington and Chelsea, in London, and Hammersmith and Fulham, screening rates were as low as 41%.
Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds accused the Tories of a “dangerous dereliction of duty” towards the NHS.
She said: “Women’s health has been deprioritised by the Conservatives for years. The result is that fewer and fewer women are accessing vital treatment and screening for serious conditions.
“Women in their 50s and 60s contribute a huge amount for our country, but the reality is that, under the Conservatives, these women are all too often stuck on endless NHS waiting lists, and suffering in silence.”
NHS England has urged women to come forward to screening as lives are saved when cancers are caught early on.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is vital to detect cancer as early as possible and more than two million eligible women received breast cancer scans last year, up significantly on the previous two years.
“To make it easier for patients to take up the invitation, they are being reminded by text messages and we have opened up 92 community diagnostic centres open and more than three million tests delivered, including for cancer.
“We’re focused on tackling this disease and we have recently invested £10 million for 28 new breast screening units and nearly 60 life-saving upgrades to services in the areas where they are most needed.”
