PERFORMS - a self assessment scheme for radiologists in breast screening

A difficulty for any radiologist involved in breast screening is to know how well he or she is performing, given the low incidence of the disease. The latest available UK data indicate a breast cancer rate of circa 6.8% per 1,000, within the screened population of 50-64 year old women1. Some 15 years ago when the UK Breast Screening Programme was established it was recommended that a radiologist should read 6,000 cases a year2. The Royal College of Radiologists subsequently amended this figure to 5,000 cases3 although several radiologists read many more cases than this – exceeding 20,000 annually and in rare cases up to 30,000. A similar recommendation of 5,000 cases per annum exists in other European countries4 although in some countries, such as the USA, the number is much lower, circa 4805.