The NHS is set to revolutionize access to cancer screening for women in a major effort to boost the practice and save thousands of lives, the head of the NHS has announced.

From next month, the NHS will begin rolling out a new ‘ping and book’ service, alerting women’s phones to remind them that they are due or late for an appointment, with new features currently in development to enable millions of people to book screening through the NHS. Application next year.

Health Service chief Amanda Pritchard today outlined reforms which will fully digitalise the delivery of screening and help save the NHS more than £130 million over the next five years, while helping to improve health service delivery. adoption by making it easier for women to accept the offer of screening.

Announcing the new drive in a speech to the annual NHS Provider Conference, Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, said: “We are making huge progress with the NHS app, enabling patients to gain more information, convenience and control over their own care, whilst also helping us to work more productively.

“We are truly excited about the potential of technology to revolutionize access to cancer screening for women and help ensure that everyone eligible can make the most of these vital services at the touch of a button.”

“Next month we begin rolling out a new ‘ping and book’ approach to breast and cervical checks via the NHS app, which will replace the costs of letters and texts with pop-ups on your phone and help to make it also practical. possible to make an appointment.

Last year alone, NHS breast cancer screening services detected cancers in 18,942 women across England, who otherwise may not have been diagnosed and treated until a later stage.

However, despite overall increasing participation last year, the latest annual data (2022/23) shows that more than a third of women (35.4%) did not take up the offer of breast cancer screening following an invitation, with 2.18 million eligible women having not benefited from breast cancer screening. mammography in the last three years.

The plans will see breast cancer screening invitations sent directly via the NHS app start to expand from next month – to be extended to cervical cancer screening in spring 2025 – and from By early 2026, the NHS is expected to enable millions of women to book breast cancer screening services. selection of appointments via the application.

Eligible women will first receive a notification through the app to remind them to make an appointment, followed by an email or text message if they do not respond, followed by a letter in the mail if none of the first two reminders received no response. . NHS cancer screening programs currently send more than 25 million invitations, reminders and results letters to patients by post, costing £14.7 million each year.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:“As a cancer survivor, I know how devastating a diagnosis can be and how important it is to get the right diagnosis and treatment as quickly as possible.

“If we want the NHS to be fit for the future, we need to detect cancers earlier so we can give people the best possible chance of survival. I hugely welcome plans to make it easier for millions of women to book screening by harnessing the power of the NHS app.

“This is a great example of the NHS’s shift from analogue to digital and the benefits of a modern health service, which this Government will deliver as part of our 10-year health plan. »

Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Screening programs are effective tools for detecting cancer at an early stage, before symptoms appear. Such innovations could facilitate population access to screening and, ultimately, increase the number of cancers detected at an early stage. Almost all breast cancer patients and 9 in 10 cervical cancer patients in England will survive their disease for five years or more if the disease is detected at an early stage.

“It’s important to remember that cancer screening is for people without symptoms, so if you notice any changes that are not normal for you, don’t wait for your next screening invitation, talk to your doctor . It probably won’t be cancer, but if it is, catching it early means treatment is more likely to be successful.

Athena Lamnisos, CEO of Eve Appeal, said: “To achieve the ambitious but achievable goal of eliminating cervical cancer, we must encourage all eligible people to participate in the screening program. Modernizing the invitation system is key in this regard: it lets people know when testing is due and allows them to easily make an appointment that suits them.

“Creating the entire system, from booking to results, and with easy online links to further information for support and overcoming barriers to testing, would make a huge difference to the many groups who do not find cervical screening easy. A digital first approach will be the answer for many, and at Eve we want to ensure that every case of cervical cancer is prevented, as much as possible.

The move follows the announcement of a new pilot project in Somerset, to see if online 111 could direct women with ‘red flag’ symptoms to breast cancer checks without the need for see a GP, as the NHS continues its efforts to improve women’s health. .

Claire Rowney, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: “Breast cancer screening plays a central role in saving more lives from breast cancer. Yet the harsh reality is that thousands of women in England go undetected every year, and the decline in uptake of breast cancer screening in recent years is deeply worrying. This is why urgent changes to the breast cancer screening program are needed to ensure women’s access, now and in the future.

“Modernizing and making the program more flexible and responsive to people’s needs will be essential to providing accessible and effective testing to all eligible people. This welcome move to update IT and digital systems to enable in-app invitations is a positive first step forward to encourage more women to undergo breast cancer screening.

The NHS is working closely with the Government to develop a 10-year health plan which will see more innovation and technology to improve patient care and make healthcare delivery more effective for generations to come – moving health services from the hospital to the community. from analog to digital, and from disease to prevention.

Members of the public, as well as NHS staff and experts, were invited to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS via the Changing the NHS online platformwhich will be online until early next year and available via the NHS app.