Cancer survivor ex-nurse urges women to have scans

A retired nurse who considered skipping her final routine mammogram which found she had breast cancer has urged women to attend their screenings.

Susan Wilson, from Barnsley, said that with no history of breast cancer in the family, no previous cancer scares and it being the last routine screening before she turned 70, she had wondered "is there any point?".

The now 70-year-old said: "It's so important to go - your life could depend on it. It could have been so very different had I not gone."

She had surgery to remove the tumour three weeks after she was diagnosed in 2023, underwent radiotherapy a few months later and is now in remission.

Susan, who was a nurse for 50 years, praised the doctors and breast screening nurses at Barnsley hospital and said she "couldn't ask for better treatment".

"The day I was told I was all clear was the day the rest of my life began," she added.

She has thrown herself into her hobbies which include drama, debating, walking, swimming and singing with a group called We Can Survive Singers.

Women registered with a GP are automatically invited for NHS breast screening between the ages of 50 and 53, then every three years until aged 71 when they can choose to self-refer.

NHS figures show almost half (46%) of women invited for a first routine scan do not respond, one of the issues prompting a new advertising campaign for earlier detection.

The NHS is also launching a new "ping and book" service which will send reminders to people via the NHS app if they are due or overdue an appointment.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.