After the breast screening programme had to be suspended due to COVID-19, a backlog of 9000 screenings has now been cleared…

In March 2020, our breast screening programme had to be suspended in the community due to COVID-19. The suspension was only temporary with the service starting back up again in June 2020. However, due to restrictions imposed by COVID-19 a backlog of over 9000 women was accumulated. 

Usually, the screening team aim to invite over 90% of women aged between 50 to 71 for an appointment within 36 months of their last screening. However, the suspension of the service, COVID-19 restrictions and subsequent backlog meant that some women were waiting up to 40 months from their last screening.

Before COVID-19 the team were able to offer appointments every 5 minutes, making it a very efficient process. However, the pandemic meant that additional PPE was required that needed to be changed between each patient. Therefore, appointment times increased to 7.5 minutes, limiting the team’s capacity to perform screenings, and increasing the delay.

Despite the pressures caused by COVID-19 continuing, the team were committed to working through the backlog. It took them 19 months of working weekends and running a community screening van to get back on track. However, their hard work paid off and as of February 2022, 97% of women were invited to their screening within 36 months, well above target.

The team have continued to meet their target over the last few months with Care Group Manager for Women’s and Children at UHP, Frank O’Friel saying, “Our teams worked incredibly hard, working additional hours on the weekends and through their community screening programme to ensure the backlog of patients was cleared.

“We are proud to say that we are back on track with our breast screening programme and that we are now exceeding our targets. It is important that we can provide this service for patients in an effectively and timely manner, so well done to the team for getting us back on track.”