Patients requiring breast scanning across Herefordshire and Worcestershire are set to benefit from £5 million worth of improvements across breast imaging services.
The improvements include a brand new breast imaging unit at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch which opened to patients on Thursday 10 February. The new purpose-built extension, which replaces the previous mobile breast imaging unit, incorporates two dedicated rooms for breast mammography and ultrasound scans and is located close to the breast surgery clinics to allow a seamless and accessible pathway for patients.
March will also see the opening of the newly extended Worcestershire Breast Unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, which also now incorporates additional screening and ultrasound facilities. The expansion of services will enable more screenings to take place meaning patients awaiting diagnostic tests can be seen quicker, and also provide space for more support services run by the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity.
In addition to these works to improve breast facilities across Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, three brand new mobile screening vans have also been funded to ensure new and improved screening technology is available and accessible to the eligible breast screening population across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. One of the vans will be permanently located at the Princess of Wales Community Hospital, Bromsgrove, with the other two vans replacing the previous vans which travel between Evesham, Malvern, Hereford, Tenbury, Bromyard, Ross-on-Wye and Leominster.
Worcester MP Robin Walker said:
"I warmly welcome the improvement to services across the Trust which will benefit Worcester residents if they should come to need them. I particularly welcome the improvements at the Worcestershire Royal which follows a number of good news announcements for the hospital.
"I am also incredibly grateful to everyone at the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity who have worked to make this investment possible."
Tom Potts, Directorate Manager for Breast Services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said:
“We are delighted to be providing these new state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities alongside our existing diagnostic and breast surgery service. The new facilities will support us in our purpose to put patients first by delivering safe, timely and effective breast services for patients in our hospitals and the wider community both now and into the future.”
Steven Thrush is the consultant breast surgeon who conceived the idea of the Worcestershire Breast Unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital from which a capital campaign (which has since become the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity) raised £1.5 million to build the unit. He said:
“In the six years since the unit opened, we continue to help more and more women and men across Worcestershire following a breast cancer diagnosis. This is largely due to the extra funds raised by The Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity. Indeed, the charity has made significant investment into this new extension, thanks to a donation from the Kildare Trust. As well as the screening areas in the new build, the Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity will be using the expanded space for more support services for patients including Pilates, mindfulness and nutritional courses and support group meetings.”