Express & Star comment: Attending breast cancer screenings is a must

And so it is deeply concerning that the number of women attending sessions to screen for breast cancer is falling.

The NHS is frequently criticised, as are those ministers and administrators who are responsible for it.

With some justification, they frequently bear the brunt of public disaffection as issues regarding under-funding, inefficiency and poor practice are brought to light.

And yet ministers and administrators cannot be criticised when it is the patients themselves who are at fault. This is true when it comes to missed appointments. Those people who fail to notify hospitals or clinics in advance are contributing to the crisis in our NHS. They are needlessly wasting resources.

In this case, by not accepting the invitation to attend a free screening session, these women are putting themselves at risk when the NHS is trying to prevent illness, or detect it at the earliest stage.

And, of course, it follows that if women who have not attended screening sessions go on to contract cancer, the costs of treatment are far greater than they would have been had the illness been found much earlier.

The breast cancer screening service is hugely important. It can and does save lives. And so people invited for screenings ought not to think about whether or not to attend. It’s something that they must do, without question and without fail.

Other things are not important. It is no good missing an appointment because a school run had to be made, a meeting had to be attended or another commitment fulfilled. Nothing is more important than our health and people must not forego free-at-the-point-of-service treatment when it is provided.

We recognise that attending appointments and check-ups can sometimes be inconvenient.

But it is incumbent upon us all to use our NHS wisely and responsibly.

We ought to book doctor’s appointments when they are required, but not when a bottle of cough mixture will suffice. We ought to use 999 ambulances when there is a life-or-death emergency, and not when we have twisted an ankle. And we ought to have the sense to go to these screenings which could save our lives.

Attending is a very small price to pay for long-term health.