People are being urged to have their say on proposals to reconfigure Breast Services before a public consultation closes on 8th July.
Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH), in partnership with St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation trust (STHK), currently provides Breast Screening Services (Mammography), Breast Assessment and Symptomatic Breast Services for Warrington, Halton, St Helens and Knowsley.
The consultation covers proposals, to co-locate Assessment and Rapid-access Outpatient Symptomatic Breast Clinics at the Captain Sir Tom Moore Building (CSTM) at the Halton Hospital site, which are designed to ensure patients receive the best specialist care in a more supportive environment.
The Screening Service manages and co-ordinates a three-year rolling programme of routine mammography across the region. Breast Screening is offered to all women aged 50 – 70 (up to their 71st birthday).
Following a mammogram, any patients requiring further investigation are requested to attend a Breast Assessment clinic to obtain a timely diagnosis of any abnormalities detected during screening. Breast Assessment Clinics run twice weekly at Kendrick Wing, Warrington Hospital and once per week at the Burney Breast Unit, St Helens Hospital to ensure results provided rapidly.
The Symptomatic services comprise outpatient rapid-access breast clinics and inpatient surgical services. These services are accessed via a direct referral, usually by a GP.
The proposals will see Breast Assessment and Symptomatic Assessment Services moved from Warrington hospital to the CSTM which will:
- Ensure patients receive the best specialist care in a more supportive environment
- Allow for more efficient use of equipment and scheduling
- Create a rapid service, which will lead to shorter waits for patients due to improved efficiency with the same level of staffing
- Futureproof the service structure against predicted higher future demand.
Our proposals will co-locate on the same site:
- Screening and Assessment Services
- Symptomatic Breast Surgery Service
- The CANtreat Chemotherapy service
- Macmillan Delamere Cancer Support and Information Centre.
This provides patients with the option of having all stages of assessment, advice and treatment on the same site.
The proposals will retain Breast Screening (Mammography) services in Warrington, either at the Kendrick Wing or Bath St Health and Wellbeing Centre, to enable all Warrington residents to continue to access screening in Warrington.
Breast Screening services will also continue unchanged at:
- Halton Hospital
- St Helens Hospital
- Mobile Breast Screening Unit
The public consultation, between 28 May and 8 July 2021, is inviting local people to give their views on the proposals. This follows an earlier engagement exercise which provided valuable insight into the proposals and demonstrated that the factors that were most important to people were waiting times to access a screening or assessment service, the outcome of any treatment and the expertise of the staff.
The full proposals together with a detailed explanation and answers to some Frequently Asked Questions are available in the document Consultation and FAQs – Reconfiguration of Breast Screening, Assessment and Symptomatic Breast Services. There is a questionnaire at the end of the document for people to complete and give their views.
Alternatively, an online questionnaire is available at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KMFR58D
Updates on the questions most commonly asked during the consultation have been added to the consultation web page Your Views: Reconfiguration of Breast Screening, Assessment and Symptomatic services :: Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust (whh.nhs.uk)
Contact whh.communications@nhs.net or call 01925 664222.