Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of breast cancer screening appointments in (a) Slough, (b) the South East and (c) England.

The latest available NHS England figures, from the third quarter of 2022/23, show that 92.1% of women covered by the screening service covering Slough were offered breast screening appointments within agreed timeframes, above the acceptable target of 90%. This compares to 76.2% in the South East, and 72.9% for England.

A new set of figures on availability of appointments is due to be published later this month, with early indications suggesting coverage is improving across the country.