§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what forecasts he has made of the number of women who will present themselves annually at the national health service breast screening programmes; and if they have been adjusted to take into account the effects of private sector advertising; [17824]
(2) what assessment he has made of the effect of private sector advertising on the number of women presenting themselves at NHS mass screening programmes; and if he will make a statement; [17825]
(3) what discussions have taken place between his Department and Health Care International regarding the recent advertisements of breast screening; [17826]
4) what comparative assessment he has made of the service offered by the NHS breast screening programme and the service being offered by Health Care International; [17827]
(5) what steps he has taken to assess whether the breast screening service provided by Health Care International will follow agreed NHS standards of practice for breast screening. [17828]
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThere has been no adjustment to the target set for attendance for screening in the Scottish breast screening programme as a result of private sector advertising. The current target for attendance in the UK NHS breast screening programme is 70 per cent. In Scotland, this means that about 130,000 women are invited for screening each year and more than 91,000 are screened. No discussions have taken place between the Scottish Office and Health Care International regarding the recent advertisements for breast screening and no assessment has been made of the service being offered by it.
The Scottish breast screening programme offers free screening every three years to all eligible women aged 50 to 64. Women aged over 64 can attend on request at the 520W same frequency. Every effort is made to ensure that women and their general practitioners are aware of this high-quality free service.