Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of (a) the effectiveness of the family history breast cancer screening service at Barts NHS Health and (b) the impact of the restriction on eligibility for this service for patients over the age of 60.

The familial history breast cancer screening service at Barts Health NHS Trust follows the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidelines for patient eligibility for screening and surveillance, with approximately 85% to 90% attendance from those invited.

The clinic aims to screen people for breast cancer linked to family history from 40 to 60 years old and follows national guidelines on when patients should be discharged from the service. At the age of 60 years old, patients are discharged from the service to the National Health Service breast screening programme, which offers three-yearly screening.