Breast cancer screenings in Suffolk have increased by over 4,000 women in the past year, helping push national uptake back to the crucial 70% target level.
Why it matters: Early detection through screening significantly increases breast cancer survival rates, with NHS England meeting its 70% uptake target for the first time since 2018-19.
By the numbers:
75,863 Suffolk women aged 53-71 received breast screenings in the three years to March
This represents 78.2% of eligible women in the area, up from 75% in the previous period
Suffolk's rate significantly outperforms the national average of 70%
Breast cancer screenings in Suffolk have increased by over 4,000 women in the past yearGov.uk
The big picture: Across England, 70% of 6.6 million eligible women were screened in the three years to March, up from 66.4% between 2020-21 and 2022-23.
What they're saying: Claire Rowney, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said meeting the uptake target was "thanks to the tireless work of NHS breast screening staff".
But she warned there remains "significant work to do to save more lives from breast cancer through screening" and added "it's vital we now build on this progress".
For context: The rise follows NHS England's first-ever breast screening awareness campaign to encourage more women to attend potentially life-saving mammographies.
The details: Women aged between 50 and 71 who are registered with a GP in England are offered an NHS breast screening every three years.
By the numbers:
16,677 women aged 45 and over had cancers detected through screening in the year to March
This corresponds to 8.5 cases per 1,000 women screened
This detection rate is down from 18,942 cancers and 8.7 per 1,000 women the year before
What they're saying: Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "The NHS breast screening programme has potentially saved thousands of lives, so it's encouraging to see greater numbers of women are coming forward to be screened since 2021."
She added "identifying and addressing" the reasons behind why people may not engage with screening will help improve uptake further.
The bottom line: Michelle Kane, director of screening at NHS England, said: "If more women come forward, we can catch thousands of cancers earlier when they are more treatable and ultimately save lives."
More information about breast screening can be found here.
Thanks for subscribing! We send our daily roundups at 5pm every weekday, so don’t forget to check your inbox.
Ipswich's only free and independent news publication
Support our journalism
We can't do this without you! Unlike the Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times, Ipswich.co.uk has no banner advertising and no wealthy US corporate owners.
So, if you value strong, free, independent local media that fights tirelessly for a better Ipswich, please consider contributing just £24 per year.
Every penny matters and allows us to keep producing good quality local journalism that respects your time, attention and privacy.
The National Crime Agency's crackdown on high street businesses suspected of links to organised crime has made headlines in Shrewsbury but remains conspicuously absent in Ipswich, despite remarkably similar retail patterns.
A pattern emerging elsewhere
While Ipswich residents have yet to witness raids on local businesses, a stark scene is unfolding elsewhere: officers forcing their way into brightly-coloured barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops that have proliferated across town centres.
Last month, the National Crime Agency (NCA) coordinated 265 raids on such premises across England and Wales as part of Operation Machinize, targeting high street businesses suspected of being fronts for international crime gangs – but it remains unclear if Suffolk, or Ipswich, has been part of this operation.
Oliver Rouane-WilliamsIpswich.co.uk
Shrewsbury and Ipswich: towns with similar profiles
In Shrewsbury, a market town not dissimilar to Ipswich, officers detained two Kurdish asylum seekers during raids on barber shops, seizing thousands of pounds in cash and illicit vapes. The intelligence suggested these establishments were linked to money laundering, illegal immigration and drug dealing.
The parallels between Shrewsbury and Ipswich are difficult to ignore. Both are historic county towns with traditional market squares, and a mix of independent and chain retailers. Both have experienced the same influx of barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops on their high street.
Yet while Shrewsbury has seen decisive action, Ipswich residents have yet to witness any comparable enforcement activity. At least not visibly. And if it has, it has yet to make any difference.
The Ipswich landscape
According to commercial property analysts Green Street, the average number of barbers per person in England and Wales has doubled in the past decade.
Walk through Ipswich town centre and the changing retail landscape is evident – multiple barber shops, vape outlets, phone repair shops and sweet shops often within yards of each other, typically with very few visible customers.
It is important to note that we are not suggesting any specific businesses in Ipswich are engaged in illegal activity. The presence of these shops alone does not indicate wrongdoing, and many could be legitimate businesses.
But questions should be asked. And questions are being asked – repeatedly – by residents.
The scale of the problem
The National Crime Agency estimates that £12 billion in illicit cash is laundered in the UK annually, with lots of it flowing through criminal front organisations on high streets.
These businesses appeared to surge as shop vacancies grew following the pandemic, creating opportunities for criminal gangs to establish themselves in plain sight.
The suspicious signs are easy to spot: businesses claiming implausible income levels, unpaid utility bills despite supposed high turnover, and the sale of illicit products like illegal vapes and tobacco.
In Greater Manchester, linked mini-marts were found to be staffed by asylum seekers, some working illegally, with hidden compartments concealing contraband.
What Operation Machinize uncovered
During Operation Machinize, authorities discovered cannabis farms, seized Class A drugs, arrested 35 people and questioned 55 suspected illegal immigrants. Three potential victims of modern slavery were identified. Bank accounts worth over £1 million were frozen and £40,000 in cash seized.
Detective Inspector Daniel Fenn, who led raids in Shrewsbury as part of the operation, said: "Members of the public are angry. They can see these fronts are there. The criminals feel they are hidden here. They think they can come to sleepy areas and won't be found."
The same could easily be said of Ipswich.
The pattern of exploitation is particularly concerning – the NCA believes some shops are used as fronts for drug-trafficking, people-smuggling, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation. In 2023, it secured the conviction of one Iranian Kurdish barber shop owner who was using his London premises as a base for smuggling 10,000 people to the UK in small boats.
Impact on legitimate businesses
Legitimate barbers are calling for a registration scheme and stricter regulation. Gareth Penn, chief executive of the Hair and Barber Council, highlighted how illegal barbers have led to fungal infections from improperly cleaned equipment.
More importantly, though, is the damage being done to genuine businesses that cannot compete with those avoiding costs and taxes, and those that cannot find suitable high street premises.
The damage is significant and potentially long-lasting.
Will Ipswich be next?
For Ipswich, the question now is whether Operation Machinize will visibly extend to Suffolk – or indeed, whether it already has without public knowledge.
Unlike local police forces, the National Crime Agency is exempt from Freedom of Information requests, making it impossible for journalists or the public to determine how many Ipswich businesses, if any, have been investigated.
This distinction is important.
While local police forces handle everyday law enforcement, the NCA was specifically created to tackle serious and organised crime that extends across police force boundaries, international borders, or requires specialist capabilities.
Their involvement signals that these high street businesses are not merely local issues but part of sophisticated criminal networks operating nationally and internationally.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis has stated that "high street crime undermines our security, our borders, and the confidence of our communities", promising "decisive action" to bring those responsible to justice.
The road ahead
There are concerns about the effectiveness of current measures. Of the 265 raids conducted, only 10 shops have been shut down permanently. Many businesses raided were back operating within minutes of officers leaving.
The challenge for authorities extends beyond individual shops to dismantling the organised crime networks behind them – networks that may have been profiting in plain sight for years on our high streets. While local police forces can target individual businesses, only the NCA has the mandate and resources to tackle the international networks behind them.
For Ipswich residents concerned about these issues, the prospect of action against suspicious businesses cannot come soon enough. However, due to the secretive nature of NCA operations, we may never know the full extent of their activities in our town – only their results, if and when they choose to make them public.
