Original document : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breast-screening-higher-risk-women-surveillance-protocols

Change description : 2025-04-29 08:30:00: Updates to the referral form and guidance on the tests and frequency for women at very high risk to reflect changes to eligibility criteria for referral into the breast very high risk screening programme. [Guidance and regulation]

Showing diff : 2025-02-05 16:08:47.699806272 +00:00..2025-04-29 07:30:09.739760440 +00:00

Guidance

Breast screening: very high risk women surveillance protocols

The NHS breast surveillance protocols for women at very high risk of developing breast cancer.

Applies to England

Documents

TestsBreast andscreening frequencyreferral ofform testing for women at very high risk

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email england.contactus@nhs.net. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Breast screening referral form for women at very high risk

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email england.contactus@nhs.net. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Details

Healthcare professionals working in the NHS breast screening programme should use these protocols.

They apply to women referred to the screening programme with a very high risk of developing breast cancer.

Complete the referral form when referring a woman to breast screening because she has been clinically identified as being at higher risk of developing breast cancer. It can be completed electronically or printed out and completed manually.

This publication was previously published by Public Health England, which closed on 30 September 2021.

Updates to this page

Published 1 June 2013

Last updated 295 AprilFebruary 2025 + show hide all updates" href="#full-history">+ show all updates
    1. Updates to the referral form and guidance on the tests and frequency for women at very high risk to reflect changes to eligibility criteria for referral into the breast very high risk screening programme.

Sign up for emails or print this page

Update history

2025-04-29 08:30
Updates to the referral form and guidance on the tests and frequency for women at very high risk to reflect changes to eligibility criteria for referral into the breast very high risk screening programme.

2025-02-05 16:08
Added a Microsoft Word version of the ‘Breast screening referral form for women at very high risk’ due to issues selecting tick boxes in the original ODT file.

2024-09-27 15:34
Added clarification that publication was previously published by Public Health England.

2023-08-16 13:18
The Breast screening referral form for women at very high risk has been updated.

2023-05-04 16:59
Minor amend in the ‘Referrals by clinical genetics services or oncology centres’ section of the HTML doc.

2023-01-03 15:37
Updated ‘Protocols for the surveillance of women at higher risk of developing breast cancer’ and the referral form to clarify: which cohort of women is entitled to very high risk screening following radiotherapy to sites involving breast tissue (formerly referred to as ‘supra-diaphragmatic radiotherapy’); the breast density review process; the interval to next screening appointment following a short term recall episode; screening during pregnancy and lactation; and screening transgender and non-binary people.

2022-08-31 10:48
New version of the breast screening referral form for women at very high risk. Expanded information requirements in section B.