Many GPs in Barnet are not doing enough to promote breast screening, according to a top doctor.

At a board meeting of the Barnet Primary Care Trust on Friday, Dr William Teh, the director of North London Breast Screening Service (NLB) said there were inconsistencies among GP practices with some doctors not “proactively” promoting the service.

Figures show that in Barnet, only 67.5 per cent of women aged 53 to 64 were screened in 2006, and although this is above the London-wide uptake of 63.9 per cent, it falls below the national figure of 75 per cent.

Speaking at Edgware Community Hospital, Dr Teh said: “What I find interesting is that some GPs are proactive in encouraging women to be screened and others are not.”

The comment caused concern among board members and Dr Philippa Curran, chair of the professional executive committee, has requested a confidential report highlighting which parts of the borough show poor referral figures.

A Barnet PCT spokesman said: “We were not aware before the trust board meeting that this might be a problem within Barnet.

“It has been requested that the Breast Screening Service provides us with more information so we can follow it up on an individual GP practice basis where there appear to be concerns.”

The North London Breast Screening service at Edgware Community Hospital was suspended in December 2006, due to system process errors.

The service re-opened fully in October 2007, but left a ten-month backlog with women left struggling to arrange routine breast screening appointments.

Dr Teh added that the latest review had shown promising results: waiting times were reduced, staff shortages had been corrected and the service had been commended for its improvements.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer, a charity that fights breast cancer through education and research, says the anomaly is not uncommon.

A study published last year found that only 16 per cent of family doctors questioned had spoken to women aged over 50 about the disease when they had an appointment and 80 per cent said they did so only when asked by a patient.

Dr Alexis Willett, policy manager at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “GPs have an important role to play in encouraging all women over 50 to attend breast screening and promoting breast awareness to women of all ages.

“Screening is vital as it can detect breast cancer at the earliest stages, before it can be seen or felt by hand. The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed and treated, the better the chances of treatment being successful.”

It is estimated the NHS breast screening programme saves 1,400 lives each year.