Labour MP launches campaign to find “one million missing mammograms”

Labour MP Dawn Butler, who was diagnosed with cancer in November last year, has launched a campaign to “find the one million missing mammograms”.

The campaign started by Butler, who announced earlier this year that she would be taking time off to recover after having had an operation, is focused on ensuring that breast cancer is caught early after a routine mammogram saved her life.

“When I attended a routine mammogram late last year, the hospital informed me that they had identified breast cancer cells, despite me having no symptoms whatsoever. Thankfully the NHS caught my cancer early, the operation was a complete success, and I am making a full recovery,” the MP for Brent Central said.

She highlighted that NHS breast cancer screening was effectively paused during the pandemic and that almost one million women missed appointments, which could mean that 8,000 women could be living with undiagnosed cancer.

“I was shocked to find out there are one million missing mammograms. I am now on a mission to find them and help get breast cancer screening back on track. The earlier you catch the disease, the more chance of recovery,” she added.

“I also want to raise awareness of the sad fact that Black and Asian women present themselves much later and have a lower chance of survival.”

Research published earlier this year found that Black people are more than a third less likely than white people to be diagnosed with cancer via screening in England, prompting calls for targeted efforts to improve their levels of uptake.

Butler has urged those eligible for screening to get checked “as soon as possible” and then to register their booking and mammogram on her website.

“When you come forward, you will be met by the most incredible, hard-working and empathetic NHS doctors, nurses and staff who are there to help, like they did with me. I want those coming forward to be the success story of my diagnosis. Together we can #FindTheMillion and help save lives,” she said.

Announcing that she would be taking a short break in March, Butler warned at the time that there will be women who will die “needlessly” if they do not get checked. The NHS invites women for breast screening every three years between the ages of 50 and 71, with the first invite between the ages of 50 and 53.

She described the staff who performed her mastectomy as “superheroes” and said she had “made a promise to them that I’m not going to forget them”. She thanked them in her statement and highlighted the pressure on the NHS, saying that staff were “exhausted” and many were “suffering from PTSD”.