Morrisons breast screening

[AnotherWeasel]

Is is unreasonable of me to feel so offended by the idea of breast screening in Morrisons car park?

I'm 52 and just received an appointment that I wasn't consulted about. I just hate the idea of it. This is my local Morrisons, where I shop, where I frequently run into my awful ex-boyfriend, my estranged mother, the work colleague who sexually harrassed me 10 years ago, friends, neighbours, my postie etc, etc. And there I am, waiting beside the enormous van, emblazoned with bright breast screening decals, clearly about to strip off and have my breasts squished and examined. It all seems so undignified and makes me feel vulnerable and powerless.

Obviously, as a mum I've had to have all my bits on display and poked about with, and again I do think we are generally treated like objects or at least like we are supposed to be mature and sensible and absolutely fine with any sort of indignity that is imposed on us in the name of good sense. But at least that was in a hospital.

Yes, I am a grown woman and absolutely can put on my big girl pants and just do it for my own good. But I really feel quite oppositional to doing that. I feel like women are expected to just be ok about decisions others make about our bodies and that our dignity and privacy isn't important. It seems so disprespectful to us. I can't imagine men being invited to a prostate exam in a van in a supermarket carpark. I feel that, out of principal I don't want to do it, because the more women say 'that's ok, I can put up with a little indignity' the more other women feel pressured into a situation they really aren't happy about. Already, I feel that if I refuse this and ask for a more private screening, I would be seen as being difficult, silly even, and asking for special treatment. And I don't want special treatment, I want all women to be treated with due respect and consideration when accessing intimate medical care.

To be fair, I am a very private and anxious person, and I do have a problematic sexual history. So, I guess I may be influenced by this. Certainly, I am quite surprised there doesn't seem to be any women complaining about it. And I wonder, is it because most of us don't give a hoot, or are there many, many women just quietly missing out on screening services rather than make a fuss.

If I tell you that I am in the United States and that I am looking at paying in excess of a thousand dollars for a six month check up mammogram ( and I have decent insurance) will it make you more likely to take advantage of this free resource? Please take advantage of it! Any indignity will be quickly over and it will teach you how to examine your breasts going forward.

If it upsets you, it upsets you.

This is your reality, not that it helps, but I wouldn’t like it either.

See if there is anywhere else you can go on a different date, just give them a phone call, I’m sure there will be other people who’ve asked to change appointments and venues.

🩷

I have done the NHS services own calculator and I am 25,000 in credit at the moment! I agree, that could change. But it is still not correct to call it free. We all pay for it.

@AnotherWeasel - you really need to get over this.

It’s not free, most of us pay hundreds of pounds a month in National Insurance, which is actually a compulsory tax for working people.
The NHS isn’t free at all, anyone who is working pays a lot of money for it.

Have you really got nothing more important to worry about OP?

I do have other things too.

Maybe you are deflecting your frustration onto this non-isssue to avoid thinking about the bigger worries in your life?

Sablefox, it is nowhere near what Americans pay. I pay over 500 a month insurance and all the fees for mammograms and any other check up, with each appointment as needed. My point is OP will not have to pay any extra and she should avail herself of this service. Maybe it is not technically free as you paid for it with NI, but it is not more money out of pocket?

@AnotherWeasel
Unfortunately men don't get invited to a prostate examination. There is no screening programme for them because at the moment there is only a PSA blood test which they have to request from their GP. It is very unreliable and not all GPs will agree even though men over 50 can request it.
My brother requested one and his GP refused because he doesn't ' believe' in it.
My husband was diagnosed as stage 4 even though he had yearly PSA tests.
More men die of prostate cancer than women do of breast cancer. 1 in 8 men get diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Stop moaning and be grateful that women have screening for breast and cervical cancer. I'm glad I can go for both checks.

I really don't understand why this is an issue or why being screened in a mobile screening unit in a supermarket car park is undignified!

I would probably have been dead long ago if it hadn't been for the mobile screening unit in my Sainsburys car park, where two tumours were found in one of my breasts - they were both very deep and the cancer would have spread long before I could have felt anything by self examination. I was, and still am, very thankful to have free screening available in a convenient location that I visit frequently, and where I can park easily. The screening unit is completely private, staffed by lovely women, is always warm, and is run very efficiently. I really couldn't care less who might see me going in or out of the breast screening van - surely every adult knows that women have breasts and that they are called for screening for breast cancer once they get to a certain age?

I agree it isn’t free! It’s called national insurance for a reason!

I had mine done in my local Tesco/M&S car park. I was very anxious about it, but I focused on being grateful that this free screening is available, and then went straight to the M&S bakery for a reward afterwards. My friend rang them and got an appointment at a central clinic though, so it's worth speaking to them if you really can't face the mobile unit.

Having moved house recently, I was invited to our nearest hospital for my mammogram. The hospital is massive, the signposting to different departments appalling, the multi storey carpark is always full, and there is only disabled parking for 2 people at most - I am disabled. It was an absolute nightmare for me, and by the time I got to the correct department, I was in agony from my disability. I therefore asked if there is anywhere else I can go in the area, and was told that next time I'm invited, to just ring in and ask if they can do it elsewhere, as there may well be a van available, which having previously had 3 tests done in the vans, I much prefer. I do think you're being a little unreasonable to feel so strongly, and to look on it almost as an affront to women, but if you don't like it, just give them a call and see what else might be available. Then if you don't like the choices, it's up to you whether you would sooner risk developing breast cancer, or go along for possibly 10 seconds of embarrassment, should you be spotted by someone you know. I know which I would rather do!

Also, as others have said, they are now rolling out vans to encourage checks for prostate cancer, and lung cancer. I wonder how many men will be hiding behind a disguise rather than be seen going in to have their prostate checked???

My breast health and my life is more important than where the screening takes place and who may see me entering / exiting.

Wicks car park maybe? Or b&q!

The tens of thousands you have paid into the NHS over the years, isn’t just going to the NHS, it’s going to all our public services - education, environment, defence, social care, local authorities. The biggest budget line for money tax payers have paid is welfare, not health. It is free at the point of entry, which means it doesn’t matter how much you’ve paid in, how much of your share has gone directly to the NHS, how many times you’ve been sick before - you can still access this service and incur no additional medical fees. You will be seen and you will be treated.

It’s not free to staff a breast screening van in a car park and have another location for people to visit. It takes a driver with a specialist licence to drive the screening unit into the car park, usually operating at unsocial hours. It needs to be staffed. The results need to be interpreted by someone else and that’s before anything is found. But you can access that freely, something that could catch breast cancer early and save your life. It could also just be an awkward 15 minutes in a car park but you’ve not wasted any money, have you? In other countries, this screening would mean you were charged, even if you had paid tens of thousands in health insurance vs tens of thousands to public services.

There are many things wrong with the NHS but accessible early screening vehicles are not one of them.

I had it done in the car park of the supermarket I work at. It was totally fine. They parked in the most discreet way possible, and once you are inside it's just like being inside a clinic. And honestly, nobody cares. It's standard screening that all women will be invited to if they are fortunate enough to get to 50+.

Of course, on the day I was going I told a couple of colleagues that I was going to get my boobs out in the car park. We had a good giggle about it.

Please don't worry about it. It's really not a big deal, I promise.

It's free at the point of service. It's absolutely correct to call it free.

When people say it's free, everyone understands that's what is meant. It's available to all regardless of means to pay.

Men WANT the PSA test to check for prostate cancer, the problem is doctors don't want to do it, especially on young men or men without symptoms or a family history. Let's not put this on men when they're having to fight to get the tests in the first place.

OP, I sympathise with how you feel, it does seem a bit odd doing something so private in a car park.

But honestly there is nothing odd about it when you get there, the whole thing is done very professionally, and the clinical environment inside the van is no different from any other health setting.

Some nasty replies here. I'm with you OP. I've just had the letter too and will be asking to go somewhere else.

Just part of the enshittification of the the UK, we don't deserve nice things apparently.

It's about making it easily accessible. And it's just like any other clinic inside.

It's not about it 'not being nice'. Do you think hospitals are 'nice'? I would much rather go to the mobile clinic than the building full of sick people, personally.

Bully for you. But yes, I think women deserve healthcare that meets their needs for privacy and dignity as well as what's efficient.

There's nothing undignified about going to a mobile clinic. And while sure, someone might see you go in, it's something that all women are invited to. If anyone gives it even a moments thought they will know that op will have been invited to go, and has done the sensible thing of taking them up on the offer.

Equally, someone might see them going into that area of the hospital. It's not like there is a super secret entrance there. And if they do, they'll be more likely to wonder if there is something more sinister than a simple routine screening going on.