HUNDREDS of mammogram appointments at Westmorland General Hospital are being missed, one of the founders of the South Lakes Mastectomy Association has warned. Judith Bridge said she was shocked to learn that in January 723 appointments were sent out to eligible women for the X-ray breast screening, but just 165 attended.

“The NHS is doing its best for us all and we are not taking up what we should do,” she said. “There must be some people not going to these appointments who end up needing major surgery.”