Thousands of women in Hull to be offered free breast screening transport in new trial

Thousands of women in Hull will be offered free door-to-door transport to their breast screening appointments through a new trial funded by Yorkshire Cancer Research.

The trial will research whether offering bookable transport to and from breast screening is an effective way to increase the number of women attending their appointments. Screening helps find cancers earlier when there are more treatment options available.

The latest data show that more than 25,000 women in Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire are not up to date with their breast screening.

Lack of transport, time constraints and difficulty getting to appointments are major reasons women are unable to attend their screening appointments.

Thousands of women registered at eight GP practices across Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire will be invited to take part in the trial.

Dr Charlotte Kelly, lead researcher on the trial and Yorkshire Cancer Research Career Development Fellow at the Hull York Medical School, said: “Breaking down the barriers to accessing screening appointments is a key goal if we’re going to increase screening uptake rates. Difficulties getting to screening appointments can occur for several reasons, including not having access to affordable transportation, needing to travel to unfamiliar locations or having time constraints.

The trial is led by researchers at Hull York Medical School, the University of Hull, alongside researchers from the University of Leeds and Hull University Teaching Hospital.

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in Hull and East Riding, with more than 500 women diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the area. A third of these cases are diagnosed through screening.

Screening can help diagnose breast cancer early, when it may be too small to see or feel. Finding cancers early means there are often more treatment options available and a higher likelihood of survival.

Dr Kathryn Scott, Chief Executive at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “Screening saves lives, which is why it’s so important that as many people as possible in Yorkshire attend their appointment when invited.

“With funding from Yorkshire Cancer Research, this trial will develop a new way to support women across Yorkshire and find more cancers early.”

If the trial is successful, the findings will be used to inform further trials and NHS services to offer support to women across the region to attend their breast screening appointments. It could also be used as part of other screening programmes, such as cervical screening and lung screening, to help more people attend their appointments.