Scottish Breast Screening Programme
The UK was one of the first countries in the world to establish a national population-based breast screening programme. There are six static screening centres in Scotland supported by nineteen mobile units. The first screening centres became operational in 1988 and in 2008 the NHS Breast Screening Programme in Scotland celebrated its 20th Anniversary; full national coverage was attained in 1991.
In Scotland, women aged 50-64 years were invited for a routine screen once every three years until 2003-04, when the age range for invitation was extended to include women up to the age of 70 years. This expansion was phased in throughout the country over a three year round of screening. Women over 70 years are still screened three yearly on request.
Up until 2007-08, the screening method used in Scotland consisted of two mammographic views at first screen and one view at subsequent screens. In Better Cancer Care, An Action Plan the Scottish Government affirmed its commitment to the implementation of two view screening at every screening appointment by April 2010. In 2008-09 a phased roll out of two views commenced and was completed in March 2010.
Within Scotland (as part of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme) information and performance data are collected by each of the six screening centres and compiled by ISD on an annual basis. The NHSBSP Performance Standards, which minimum and target standards are specified, are the means by which this information is evaluated. The NHSBSP Performance Standards have been published based on women aged 50-64 to 31 March 2009. To reflect the expansion of the age range, they have been extended to include women up to the age of 70. To allow for trend analysis, NHSBSP Performance Standards based on women aged 50-70 have been produced back to 1 April 2004. Previously published trends in NHSBSP Performance Standards to 31 March 2009, for women ages 50-64, are available in the Tables and Charts section below.
The Scottish breast screening programme offers women aged 50-70 years a routine X-ray test, known as a mammogram, to detect possible breast cancers. Recent advancements in technology mean that these X-rays can be taken with new 'digital' machines. Full implementation of the digital system was achieved across Scotland by 1 March 2016. Previously the conventional mammography methodology used pictures recorded on a film in a cassette. The new digital mammography converts the X-rays to digital images which can be viewed on a computer screen and stored electronically, rather than transferred to film.
The Breast Screening Programme implemented a new Scottish Breast Screening System IT system in line with the change to digital mammography during 2015/16. Therefore, the 2015/16 data was extracted from the old SBSP system only, due to this there is a small amount of data that is unavailable.
In 2016, the Clinical Standards for Breast Screening published in 2002 were identified by Healthcare Improvement Scotland for revision. The standards provide a defined set of measures that screening providers must meet to make sure local services are safe and effective, and where relevant we have incorporated the respective performance measures within Healthcare Improvement Scotland's breast screening standards.
Due to the rapidly changing situation with Coronavirus (COVID-19) the Scottish Government has announced the pausing of the Breast Screening Programme. In practice this means no additional patients will be invited for screening until further notice. Results for those who have recently been screened will continue to be processed. The move means healthcare staff can be re-allocated to support other essential services, including COVID-19 laboratory testing and covering for colleagues who are unwell or self-isolating.
The next release of this publication is scheduled for 20 April 2021. However, given the pause on breast screening due to the coronavirus outbreak (www.nhsinform.scot/screeningupdate), this proposed date may be affected.
The report from the most recent National Statistics publication can be found on our Publications page.
Breast screening statistics
Main points
NHS Breast Screening key points for the three-year period 2016/17 - 2018/19;
- 546,379 women aged 50 - 70 attended a routine breast screen appointment which equates to around 7 in 10 women (72.2%) taking up the invitation for screening.
- Women from more deprived areas are less likely to attend for breast screening, with under 6 in 10 women (59.5%) from the most deprived areas going for screening compared with almost 8 in 10 (79.7%) women living in the least deprived areas, a difference of over twenty percentage points. This pattern is reflected in other screening programmes.
- The uptake rate has increased from 71.2% in 2015/16 - 2017/18 to 72.2%, a level not seen since 2012/13 - 2014/15, 72.5%. The uptake rate has been falling consistently since 2009/10 - 2011/12 when it was 74.9%.
- Two NHS Boards did not meet the minimum acceptable uptake standard of 70%; NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (66.7%) and NHS Lanarkshire (69.7%). However, all mainland NHS Boards have improved uptake when compared against the previous three-year period.
- The invasive cancer detection rate for women aged 53 - 70 years who have previously been screened within five years of their last attendance was 7.0 per 1,000 women screened. This is a slight increase from the previous three-year period 2015/16 - 2017/18 (6.8 per 1,000 women screened).
Tables and charts
NHSBSP Performance Standards
- Performance standards uptake, cancer detection, standardised detection ratio, recalled for assessment and benign biopsy rates for 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.
- SBSP Performance updated standards (three-year rolling period) Three-year combined performance standards for 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019.
- Uptake by NHS Board percentage uptake (three-year rolling periods) by NHS Board from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2019.
Historical trends in NHSBSP Performance Standards (based on previous age range of 50-64 years).
- Performance standards (three-year rolling periods)
[101kb] trends in performance from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2009. - Uptake by NHS Board [39kb] percentage uptake (three-year rolling periods) by NHS Board from 1 April 1991 to 31 March 2009.
Deprivation screening statistics
- Deprivation Percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2019.
- Deprivation [41kb] 1 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2012.
- Deprivation [34kb] 3 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2012.
Historical trends in uptake by deprivation category (based on women 50-64 years).
- Deprivation [35kb] 1 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 1990 to 31 March 2008.
- Deprivation [33kb] 3 year percentage uptake by deprivation category from 1 April 1990 to 31 March 2008.
Other breast screening statistics
- Attendance number of women attending screening by appointment type from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2019.
- Uptake by type of invitation percentage uptake by type of invitation from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2019.
- Outcomes screening outcomes from 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2019.
Mortality
- Breast cancer mortality [66kb] trends in mortality since the start of the screening programme.
Useful links
Breast cancer statistics: detailed incidence and mortality data, lifetime risk, prevalence and survival statistics.
NHS Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP): general information and publications relating to breast screening in the UK.
National Services Division (NSD), which has responsibility for providing the Scottish Breast Screening Programme.
Data Management (ISD), which has responsibility for processing the breast screening data, this describes what processes are carried out in data management.
Information about breast screening
Information on the development and major policy changes relating to Breast Screening since the start of the programme available here: Milestones table 
[25kb].
Breast screening explained by Health Scotland.
Breast Screening Data Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions relating to the Breast Screening Programme data [12kb].
Glossary
Glossary of breast screening terms relating to the data on this website [78kb].