Breast screening resources
On this page, you’ll find links to useful information and resources relating to breast screening for health and social care professionals, patients and service users.
Information on breast screening for health and social care professionals
This section provides links to resources on breast screening for health and social care professionals. Some of these resources may also be beneficial for patients and service users.
Breast screening invitation letter: easy read format
Healthcare professionals, family and carers can use the easy read letter to explain breast screening to people with learning disabilities.
Guidance on opting out of breast screening
Guidance for healthcare professionals to use with patients who want to opt out of breast screening
Form A: Permanently opt out (cease) from breast screening due to informed choice
Form B: Permanently opt out (cease) from breast screening due to bilateral mastectomy
Form C: Permanently opt out (cease) from breast screening due to best interests (MCA)
Form E: Permanently withdraw (cease) from high risk breast screening due to informed choice
Breast screening guidance for providers on ‘out-of-area screening’
Guidance for breast screening providers on dealing with requests from women who ask to be screened outside their area.
Breast Screening Programme: interval cancers explained
Guidance for healthcare professionals to discuss interval cancers in the NHS Breast Screening Programme with patients and carers.
Breast screening: awareness posters
Screening providers can print and display these posters to help raise awareness of breast screening.
Breast screening: identifying inequalities – guidance
Guidance and shared practice for breast screening providers, commissioners and other stakeholders on addressing inequalities.
Breast screening: reducing inequalities – guidance
This guidance is to support breast screening providers, commissioners and other partners in identifying and reducing inequalities throughout the breast screening pathway.
Breast screening: women not registered with a GP practice – guidance
This guidance is for breast screening services to help them advise women seeking breast screening who are not registered with a GP practice.
Information on breast screening for patients and service users
This section provides information on breast screening for patients and service users, including specific audiences and information in accessible formats.
Female lifetime screening pathway
a short video for patients by the UK National Screening Committee explaining more about the breast screening pathway.
NHS breast screening: helping you decide
A leaflet about breast screening for patients. This leaflet is also available in other languages.
What happens at your breast screening appointment?
This document describes the breast screening process
Guidance on breast screening for women aged 71 years or older
Women aged 71 years or older no longer receive breast screening invitations, but can request breast screening every 3 years.
NHS breast screening: partial or incomplete mammography
This leaflet is for women who have had only partial or incomplete mammography during NHS breast screening.
NHS breast screening: information for women with breast implants
This leaflet provides information about the NHS breast screening programme for women with breast implants.
NHS breast screening: information for women with a high risk of breast cancer
This document explains the the NHS breast screening programme for women defined as being at high risk of breast cancer.
NHS breast screening service directory
On this page, patients can use their postcode to search for NHS breast screening services
Guidance: how should i check my breasts?
A straightforward NHS guide on how to check your breasts
Advice on what you should do if you find a lump in your breast
Self-check guide by Coppafeel Breast Awareness Charity
A free, interactive guide that walks you through the process of checking your breasts
Guide: An easy read guide to breast screening
This leaflet offers a guide to breast screening for people with a learning disability. It explains what breast cancer is, highlights the risks and benefits of breast screening, and describes the process of being screened. It also outlines how to check your breasts in between screening appointments and what to do if you find anything unusual.
Beyond words: An easy guide to breast screening (illustration)
This booklets can be used by health professionals, family and carers to explain the Breast Screening Programme to people who cannot read or do not like written words
A film by and for women with learning disabilities to take the fear out of going for breast screening.
Research and support charity
Registered charity. Independent funder of cancer research
UK charity supporting people living with cancer
General information on screening for health and social care professionals
This section provides links to a range of general resources related to screening for health and social care professionals.
Guidance: improving access to screening for people with SMI
Information for commissioners and screening providers, to help improve access to screening for people with SMI, including those in high, medium and low secure mental healthcare settings.
Report: inequalities in cancer screening for people with SMI
This report presents analysis of differences in the uptake of bowel, breast and cervical cancer screening in England between people with and without SMI.
Guidance: improving access for people in secure and detained settings
This guidance primarily refers to screening people in prisons but also applies to people in other NHS Health and Justice secure and detained settings such as immigration removal centres, secure children’s homes, secure training centres and young offender institutions.
Blog: addressing inequalities in LGBTQI+ cancer screening coverage
Public Health England (PHE) existed to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It closed on 30 September 2021 with it’s responsibilities being passed to the UK Health Security Agency (HSA). This blog is no longer updated.
Cancer screening and people with learning disabilities
Guidance to help health professionals, social care staff and family members to help someone with learning disabilities to be screened for cancer.
Guidance on opting out of screening
Guidance for healthcare professionals to use with patients who want to opt out of screening
Guidance: Duty of Candour (2020)
This publication provides advice to providers and commissioners of NHS screening programmes on best practice around duty of candour.
Other general screening information and resources for patients and service users
This section provides links to other useful resources around screening, such as: registering with a GP to ensure patients receive screening invitations; opting out of screening; and determining cancer risk.
London Breast Screening Service
A free breast screening service for women registered with a GP in London and West Hertfordshire.
To ensure that patients receive invitations to breast screening, they need to be registered with a GP. The following resources will provide guidance and support on this.
Find your local GP (opens in a new window)
An NHS service that helps to locate GPs based on a UK postcode search.
Registering with a GP: a guide for people experiencing homelessness (PDF)
Registering with a GP: a guide for Gypsy, Traveller, and Roma communities (PDF)
Registering with a GP: a guide for asylum seekers and refugees (PDF)
Family doctor service registration form (GMS1) (opens in a new window)
Population screening explained
A HM Government guide that sets out what population screening is, how it works, and its limitations.
Population screening timeline (PDF)
an NHS infographic showing when different types of screening are offered including breast screening.
Guidance on opting out of bowel screening
A general guide on what a patient needs to do if they choose to opt out of screening, including breast screening.
Reducing inequalities and barriers in accessing NHS screening programmes
A series of short video clips of service users with learning disabilities talking about screening.
Population screening support for carers
Guidance and resources for carers and care providers to help people understand and access screening.
NHS population screening: information for trans and non-binary people
Information for trans (transgender) and non-binary people in England about the adult NHS screening programmes that are available in England and who is invited for screening.
Guidance on predictive genetic tests for cancer risk genes
A leaflet discussing predictive genetic testing which is used to look for inherited gene mutations that might put a person at higher risk of getting certain kinds of cancer.