East Midlands Breast Pain Pathway

Health Service Journal Awards 2025

The East Midlands Breast Pain Pathway National Collaboration has been shortlisted in the category Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year for the prestigious HSJ Awards.

The next stage will be a presentation to the judging panel in October with the Awards Ceremony being held in London in November.

National Evaluation Publication

On 23^rd July 2025 the national evaluation of the implementation of the EMBPP at 17 services across 9 Cancer Alliances was published in BMJ Open Quality:

Transforming care with community breast pain clinics: a validated innovative solution benefitting patients and the healthcare system

BMJ Open Quality 2025;14:e003363. doi:10.1136/ bmjoq-2025-003363

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2025-003363

The publication concludes that “the CBPC/EMBPP provides improved patient care, a better use of healthcare resources and has excellent PROMs. Patients with breast pain alone had a low incidence of BC, and there is no delay to diagnosis. The pathway is reproducible across multiple organisations and patient demographics, making it suitable for widespread implementation.”

For further details please see Implementation of EMBPP – National

NHS ConfedExpo 2025

The innovative East Midlands Community Breast Pain Pathway was presented on 11^th June 2025 at NHS ConfedExpo 2025, highlighting its role in improving patient experience and streamlining care across the region.

Developed in collaboration with clinicians, commissioners and patient representatives, the pathway offers a community-based approach to managing breast pain. It reduces unnecessary referrals to secondary care while ensuring timely reassurance and support for patients.

Speaking at the conference, representatives from the Breast Pain Pathway Collaboration emphasised how the pathway is helping to enhance access, improve efficiency and provide effective, patient-centred care. data shows the initiative is reducing pressure on specialist breast services while maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction.

The presentation at NHSConfed 2025 marks an important milestone in sharing best practice and encouraging wider adoption of innovative community-led pathways across the NHS.

East Midlands Evaluation of the EMBPP Published

On 28^th April 2025 the evaluation of the implementation of the EMBPP in the East Midlands was published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice:

East Midlands Breast Pain Pathway: An Evaluation of Community Breast Pain Clinics Across the East Midlands

Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 2025; 31:e70150

https://doi.org/10.1111/jep.70150

The publication concludes that “the CBPC offers significant benefits in patient experience and value for money, with no evidence of reducing patient safety. The impacts of the clinics appear to be reproducible across all five centres in the East Midlands (a population of 5.5 million). Recommendations on further assessment on optimal staff mix and clinic cost mechanisms should be considered to maximise benefits.”

For further details please see Implementation of EMBPP – East Midlands

Derbyshire Pilot Results Published

The results of the Derbyshire pilot are now published in BMJ Open Quality: Community breast pain clinics can provide safe, quality care for women presenting with breast pain . The publication describes the outcomes for the first 1000 patients attending CBPCs in Derbyshire, all with 12 months post clinic follow up. The results confirm that women presenting with breast pain alone can be managed in a community setting with high levels of patient satisfaction and with no safety concerns raised.

Breast Pain Pathway Implementation Support NHS England

NHS England’s Cancer Programme set out in 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance, the expectation for systems “to establish, where not already in place, breast pain pathways…to effectively manage patients who do not require a full clinical assessment on an urgent suspected cancer pathway”. 

The Cancer Programme is supporting the roll-out of breast pain pathways with an implementation support document and supporting resources from providers, available on the Cancer Alliances Workspace at: https://future.nhs.uk/canc/view?objectId=36676368 or in the Professional area of this website (Implementing the EMBPP: Commissioning section).

Health Economic Evaluation of Community Breast pain Clinics: National Audit Report released

The report evaluates the implementation of the East Midlands Breast Pain Pathway by 17 services from 9 different Cancer Alliances across England. 7,326 patients attending Community Breast Pain Clinics are included in the audit. It provides additional evidence of the reproducibility, acceptability, safety and cost of the EMBPP. The report is available in the Implementation of the EMBPP: National section of the website.

Toolkit for Health Care Professionals Available now live

The Toolkit for health care professionals to support implementation of the EMBPP as part of their service is now live. It includes multiple resources developed by services that already use the pathway, aiming to assist those wishing to follow. It is housed in the password protected Professional area of this website.

If you haven’t already registered and require access to the Professional area of this website please complete the registration form using your NHS or ac.uk email address. You will then be sent login and password details.