About Screening

The Cost of Breast Screening in Wales

BTW’s total funding for 2002 to 2003 was £6,433,000.

This represented 0.19% of the National Health Service budget for Wales in 2002/2003 of £3.4 billion.

The funding covers all of the activities for which BTW is responsible, that is, for screening and tests up to the point of diagnosis. All costs associated with local and national quality assurance activities are also included. The funding equates to about £80 per screen and just under £10,000 for each case of breast cancer.

This includes the costs for:

Staff:

recruitment, pay, travel, training
personnel and financial services
corporate support from Velindre NHS Trust.

Estates and equipment:

accommodation, including rates, heating, lighting, leases, decoration and repairs for BTW’s screening centres
maintenance of the administrative, IT and medical equipment, including 10 mobile units and 18 mammography sets.

Consumables:

postage and stationery for all invitations, recalls and results (over a quarter of a million letters each year!) and all administrative purposes
stationery, postage, public information materials (leaflets, displays, videos)
mammography films, processing fluids, fuel
needles and other medical supplies.

Hospital costs:

for diagnostic operative biopsies.

It does not include treatment costs, which remain the responsibility of the acute services.