Over 12,000 miss cancer screen appointments

Thousands of women in Sunderland did not keep up to date with potentially life-saving cancer checks last year because of the pandemic, new figures show.

NHS England figures show just 64% of eligible women in the area were up to date with their screenings at the end of March – meaning roughly 12,397 were not.

That proportion was down from 77% the year before and health services in the area fell below the national minimum target of 70% coverage, and short of the 80% the NHS says all services should aim for.