• Screening uptake among women invited for screening in the extended age groups [ Time Frame: One year ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

• Workload associated with inviting these new age groups for screening [ Time Frame: One year ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  
• Self-referrals among women in the pilot areas aged 47-49 or 71-73 but who were not invited for screening [ Time Frame: One year ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  

Currently all women are invited for breast screening between the ages of 50 and 70. In 2007 the Cancer Reform Strategy announced that from 2012 the NHS Breast Screening Programme would be extended to cover women between the ages of 47 and 73. This means that all women will get two extra screening invitations in their lifetime. It also means that all women will get their first invitation before age 50. As capacity does not allow for full immediate roll out across the whole of England, the age extension will be phased-in with full coverage from 2012. Randomising this phasing-in would provide unbiased evidence on the extent to which it is beneficial to extend the age range for breast screening and whether an extra screen at younger or older ages is more worthwhile. To date there is no clear evidence on this as no trial has looked at the added value of one extra screen within an existing screening programme. This pilot study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of randomising the phasing-in of the age extension in six volunteer sites in different areas of England.