NHS Breast Screening - Support for management of Very High Risk (VHR) Women

BARD is a confidential database of women in England who have received radiotherapy involving breast tissue before the age of 36. It has been set up to make sure all those at risk can be informed of screening options at the right time.

Current national guidelines recommend that screening should start 8 years after radiotherapy to breast tissue or at age 25 or 30 (depending on circumstances), whichever occurs later. In addition to making sure that screening appointments arrive at the right time, BARD will allow monitoring of the effectiveness of screening.

There will be a small number of women who have received radiotherapy to breast tissue as part of a treatment plan for diagnoses other than lymphoma. In these instances, the BARD non-lymphoma patient referral form should be completed by a consultant clinical oncologist to refer the patient to BARD. The BARD team then organise breast screening in line with national guidelines.