Our services in Barnsley compare well with regional and national standards and we have a new expanded unit which opened in September 2003 within the new women services department.

Each year, approximately 150 new cases of cancer of the breast are identified in Barnsley. These are identified through our symptomatic breast clinic which patients are referred to by their GP and our routine breast screening clinic.

Our routine breast screening service is rated as one of the best in the country with 100% of eligible women in Barnsley, aged between 50-70, being screened within the Government’s recommended three year period. Of the 11 breast units in the North East and Yorkshire and Humber region currently offering the NHS Breast Screening Programme, Barnsley has consistently been the top performer, which is partly due to the high acceptance rate of eligible women taking part in the programme. The NHS Breast Screening Programme is estimated to have saved around 1,400 lives a year since it began in 1988. Screening every three years is estimated to prevent 40 per cent of breast cancer deaths.