Breast screening facilities at Furness General Hospital have been transformed in a bid to enhance care for patients.
The refurbished and expanded space now has new equipment including state of the art scanning technology, mood lighting and a redesigned ‘more attractive’ space.
Nicole Chiu-Richards, a mammographer with University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It’s much better for our patients because the space is bigger and it’s nicely designed.
“The new equipment means we can provide an even better experience and service for patients. From a staff perspective, it’s much nicer to work in because everything is new, there’s more space and it has a nice atmosphere. Everybody is excited to use the space.
“We have a big uptake for breast screening in the South Cumbria region. We can respond very quickly for people who have symptoms of breast cancer. We see women and men in the unit at FGH.”
The new equipment was funded by NHS England and the space was designed by the Trust’s Estates and Capital Services Team.
Emily Brooks, deputy head of breast screening for the service, added: “Our Estates and Capital Services Team has done a fantastic job with the room. A huge amount of thought and care was put into the design. Everyone has been focused on improving the experience for patients which has been great.
“Our next steps are to create similar rooms at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and at Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal. Work is starting on the room at the RLI in July and at WGH in October, so we’ll eventually have new breast screening rooms at all three of our main hospital sites.”
The North Lancashire and South Cumbria breast screening service provides routine breast screening for women over the age of 50, and offers services to anyone referred by a GP.
Emily, a mammographer by profession, said: “If anything is found during a routine breast screening appointment, the person would be recalled and we would investigate.
“The new equipment enables us to have a 3D view which provides a lot more detail and helps with locating any lesions. It’s the latest technology and it’s highly reliable, which provides reassurance for our patients.
“Patients referred to us by a GP see a surgeon, have a consultation, have an ultrasound scan and receive all of their results on the same day. Everything happens during the same appointment, which means less time for our patients to wait.”
