Jackie Baillie has declared a victory for older women after the SNP government back-tracked on their plans to deny women aged 75 and over being able to self-refer for breast screening.

Minister for Women’s Health and Public Health Jenni Minto wrote to Scottish Labour’s Health Spokesperson on November 13^th saying there was no timeline for when this service would resume.

However in a dramatic climbdown, a response to a parliamentary question today shows that from tomorrow, December 1^st, all women aged 75 and over, regardless of their history of breast cancer, will be able to register for self-referral appointments if they haven’t been screened in the last three years.

The screening programme was paused during the Covid pandemic and there was growing frustration among older women that the delay in resuming the self-referral was ageist and unfair.

Prior to the pandemic, women aged 75 and over were able to request screening every three years even if they had no history of breast cancer.

A year ago, the Dumbarton constituency MSP quizzed then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon about the issue after a 77-year-old constituent was denied a screening test.

Ms Baillie was furious that older people were still unable to access potentially life-saving screening tests and has campaigned for these to be reinstated ever since. She is pleased that the SNP have seen sense in re-starting the scheme.

The Dumbarton constituency MSP said: “The Scottish Government’s women’s health plan was published more than a year ago but women have still been let down by the SNP.

“It is extraordinary that we have gone from a position two weeks ago when there was no timeline of when this screening would recommence to now where over 75s will be able to register to self-refer for these potentially life-saving tests.

“I am glad that the Scottish Government have finally admitted that their policy to deny older women access to this was wrong-headed. It’s just a shame that some have missed out on getting screened.”

A 78-year-old constituent from Helensburgh first contacted Ms Baillie two years ago after having difficulty in accessing breast cancer screening.

She was furious when it was revealed that there was no timeline for the service resuming, claiming it was an ageist policy but is worried about other areas of health.

She added: “I would imagine the number of people of my age who are trying to do this voluntarily isn’t that huge and wouldn’t have a significant impact on the service.

“It makes you very suspicious about what other services older people are being denied.”