MORE than 13,000 women missed potentially life-saving breast screening appointments in Cumbria in the year leading up to the coronavirus pandemic, figures show.

As Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaches this October, experts are urging women across the UK to check for signs and symptoms of the disease and for those eligible to take up their invitations for routine screenings.

The NHS breast screening programme sees women aged between 50 and 71 invited every three years to undergo a mammogram (X ray) designed to detect cancers that are too small to see or feel.

The latest available NHS Digital figures show that 79 per cent of eligible women in Cumbria attended routine screenings between April 2019 and March 2020 – meaning roughly 13,785 were not up to date with their checks.

That proportion was down slightly from 80 per cent the year before.

It meant health services in the area achieved the national minimum target of 70 per cent uptake but fell short of the 80 per cent the NHS says all services should aim for.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of charity Breast Cancer Now, said a decline in screening uptake across the UK in recent years was already a 'concern' prior to the pandemic, adding the charity estimates 1.2 million fewer women had a screening in 2020 due to coronavirus-related disruption.

She said: "We must do all we can to increase the number of women taking up their invitation to breast screening, including text reminders, more convenient appointments and improving awareness of the programme."

"While screening comes with some risks to be aware of, we encourage women to attend their appointments when invited, including during the pandemic."

Breast screening is estimated to save 1,300 lives across England each year, but just 69 per cent of women offered a screening nationally in 2019-20 took up the offer, compared to 71 per cent the year before.

Different figures show in the same year, roughly 9,500 women across England died from breast cancer and more than 17,700 women aged 45 or over had the cancer detected.

The most recent PHE figures at local authority level, which span a three-year period, show there were 139 breast cancer deaths in Cumbria women aged up to 75 between 2017 and 2019 – equating to 17 in every 100,000 women in the age group.