Breast cancer diagnosis: How do I get a mammogram screening?

The Duchess of York has recently urged people to go and get checked for breast cancer, after she was diagnosed with the disease following a routine mammogram screening.

Sarah Ferguson confirmed her diagnosis through her spokesperson on Sunday (25 June). The spokesperson said the 63-year-old was “advised she needed to undergo surgery which has taken place successfully”.

On Monday, Ferguson said in her podcast that she wants “every single person that is listening to this podcast to go and get checked” for breast cancer. She confirmed that she was about to undergo a mastectomy to treat it.

It comes as Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden also had a mastectomy after she was diagnosed with grade three breast cancer earlier this year. The professional dancer, 32, said she had “no choice” but to have her breast removed as she had “more than one tumour”, and now has a reconstructed breast.

Earlier this year, the NHS launched a campaign to urge women to take up their breast screening appointments, after new data revealed that nearly four in 10 did not attend a screening appointment.

Screening is a vital step in helping doctors identify cancers at an earlier stage. In the 2021-2022 period, the NHS breast screening programme led to cancers being detected in 20,152 women across England that may otherwise have been diagnosed and treated at a later stage.

Here is everything you need to know about getting a mammogram in the UK.

Anyone who has registered with a GP as female will receive an invitation for a breast cancer screening from the NHS every three years between the ages of 50 and 71. Patients automatically receive their first invite in a letter through the post between these ages.

The letter will either ask you to book an appointment for a mammogram by phone, email or sometimes online, or will give you a pre-booked appointment and tell you when and where you need to do in order to do the screening.

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The appointments may take place at a breast screening clinic, often within a hospital, or at a mobile breast screening unit.

The NHS urges people to book their appointment as soon as they get invited. You can still book an appointment even if you received your invitation weeks or months prior.

If you have not been invited for a breast screening by the time you are 53 and you think you should have been, you should contact your local breast screening service.

You should also contact them if it has been more than three years since your last appointment and you think you are overdue.

If you are a trans man, trans woman, or non-binary, your invitation will depend on the sex you have registered with your GP. According to the NHS, you can have a breast screening if you were assigned female at birth and have not had top surgery, or you were assigned male at birth and have been taking feminising hormones for longer than two years.

If you registered a male with a GP but think you should have a breast screening, you can speak to your GP surgery or contact your local breast screening service to request an appointment.

Screening staff may need some information from you in order to ensure your appointment goes smoothly.

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You should tell them if you require additional support, such as if you have a learning disability or mobility issues. If you have breast implants, you may need an extra X-ray to get a clearer picture around the implant.

It is also important to let staff know if you have a pacemaker or another medical device implanted in your body, or if you are pregnant, think you could be pregnant, or are breastfeeding.