A new “ping and book” service to encourage women to attend cervical and breast cancer screening appointments is being rolled out on the NHS in England, its chief executive has said.
Amanda Pritchard told the NHS Providers’ annual conference in Liverpool the tech in the NHS app could “potentially save thousands more lives” and improve access to vital screening.
Starting next month, women in England will be pinged reminders that they are due or overdue an appointment for breast screening.
This will be expanded to cervical screening in spring next year and, from early 2026, millions of women will be able book breast screening appointments through the NHS app.
It is part of plans to fully digitise the way reminders and appointments are run for breast, bowel and cervical screening, with the aim of saving the NHS more than £130 million over the next five years.
Ms Pritchard said: “We are really excited by the potential of technology to revolutionise access to cancer screening for women and help ensure everyone eligible can make the most of these life-saving services at the touch of a button.
“Next month we’re starting the rollout of a new ‘ping and book’ approach for breast and cervical checks through the NHS app, which will replace costs of letters and text messages with pop-ups on your phone and help make it as convenient as possible to book appointments.”
More than 18,942 breast cancers were picked up in women across England last year through screening.
We're now joined by @NHSEngland's @AmandaPritchard for a keynote address.
— NHS Providers (@NHSProviders) November 12, 2024
To begin her speech, Amanda reflects on the last 12 months in the #NHS, highlighting the resolution of doctors strikes and the new government's priorities brining new opportunities.#NHSP24 pic.twitter.com/kBaSsvw3qn
However despite rising uptake overall last year, figures for 2022/23 show that more than a third of women (35.4%) did not take up the offer of breast screening following an invitation.
Overall, 2.18 million eligible women in England have not had a mammogram in the last three years.
Data also shows that, as of December last year, around one in three women aged 25 to 49 did not take up their cervical screening invitation, while just over a quarter of those aged 50 to 64 did not.
Under the new rollout, women who do not have the app and those who do not respond to messages will be sent an email or text message, followed by a letter through the post.
NHS cancer screening programmes currently send over 25 million invitations, reminders and results letters to patients by post, costing £14.7 million every year, NHS England said.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “If we’re going to make the NHS fit for the future, we need to catch cancers earlier so that we can give people the best possible chance of survival.
“I hugely welcome plans to make it easier for millions of women to book a screening by harnessing the power of the NHS app.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive at Cancer Research UK, said: “Screening programmes are effective tools in spotting cancer early, before symptoms start.
“Innovations like this could make it easier for people to access screening, and ultimately, increase the number of cancers caught at an early stage.
“Almost all breast cancer patients and nine in 10 cervical cancer patients in England will survive their disease for five years or more if the disease is caught at the earliest stage.”
