Kasper Grandetoft
July 22nd, 2021

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A lack of doctors has resulted in the capital region postponing up to 120,000 cancer examinations. (photo by: Elías Alarcón)

Every second year, healthy women aged 50-69 are called to a screening that examines early signs of breast cancer.

However, a lack of doctors has resulted in the capital region postponing up to 120,000 cancer examinations that should have taken place in August, September and October.

Women with symptoms prioritized
The capital region explained to Berlingske that hospitals are affected by an acute lack of mammographers – the doctors who examine symptoms of breast cancer. As a result, the region has chosen to prioritize patients that already have symptoms and therefore need a more thorough examination.

“It is by no means something I’m happy about,” said Christoffer Buster Reinhardt, member of the regional counsel, to TV 2.

“But I think it’s the right choice to prioritize women, where a concrete suspension of cancer exists, instead of screenings of women that are, as a starting point, healthy,”

Kræftens Bekæmpelse express worry
The Danish Cancer Society, Kræftens Bekæmpelse, expressed concern.

“We know that the screening programme plays a vital role in the chance of survival for women with cancer by helping to find more serious tumours at an early stage,” said chief physician at Kræftens Bekæmpelse, Janne Bigaard to Berlingske.

“Therefore, it’s important for women to be examined on time.”

Capital region: “Doing everything we can”
When the corona pandemic was at its highest, many women cancelled their screenings which has now created a bottleneck in the flow of examinations.

“Our staff is working overtime. We’re sending patients to private hospitals. We are in contact with other regions and even foreign countries to check if they can treat some of our patients. We are doing everything we can,” stressed Reinhardt.

The region urges women with symptoms to contact their own doctor – this way they can be referred more quickly to a clinical mammograph screening outside the national programme.

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