Women's views of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme: a national consumer opinion survey

A questionnaire survey of 3,000 women attending operative Scottish breast screening outlets was conducted to ascertain women's views of the Scottish Breast Screening Programme. The survey aimed to discover women's opinions of waiting areas, staff, changing facilities, screening procedure and intentions about returning for screening in the future. The response rate was 86%. Overall 84% found reception staff very helpful, 98% found undressing instructions clear, waiting areas comfortable and changing areas private enough; 77% thought the radiographers were very understanding; 97% received enough explanation about the mammogram and 96% felt able to ask questions; 89% said the entire screening process was as, or better than expected; 89% said they were very likely to come back in three years' time. At individual outlets up to 33% of women had insufficient information about breast screening prior to attending and up to 17% had to wait more than 20 minutes after their appointment times. Up to 21% felt moderate or severe pain on screening and up to 51% found pressure worse than expected. In conclusion, the Scottish Breast Screening Programme is very acceptable to women but at some outlets the appointments system, information giving and screening pressure needs to be reviewed.