The mental health collaborative has made breast cancer screening one of its top priorities for people living with serious mental illness. 

The compelling evidence shows that according to recent data (Spring 2025), only 22% of people with SMI who were eligible for the screening took  it, compared to 68% of the general population. 

Rationale for the project 

– High premature Mortality Rates in people with SMI

– Premature mortality linked with cancer 

-Low breast cancer screening uptake in people with SMI versus general population  

Fiona Grant, public health consultant at Leicestershire county council said: “Breast cancer screening is an important screening programme. We need to make sure that we are making it easy for everyone to take part. It is not acceptable to see this level of disparity, which is why the collaborative, in addition to the three place based Mental health Collaboratives, have made this one of their mental health priorities.”

There has already been a lot of work completed as part of a system wide programme of work, including reciprocal workforce training, focus on person centre care and reasonable adjustments and more coordination across services. Plans are underway to embed the changes made as business as usual.