A breast cancer unit which screens thousands of women every year has moved to Ipswich Hospital from its former site at St Clement’s, Foxhall Road, Ipswich.

Women previously invited to the St Clement’s site for screening every three years will now go to the Heath Road hospital.

The satellite screening unit, fitted with state-of-the-art digital equipment, is now positioned at the back of the hospital site, next to Pathology, accessible from the main corridor. Around 60 women each day will visit the unit for a mammogram as part of the national Breast Screening Programme. Appointment letters will include details on how to find the unit and direction signs have been put up in the hospital.

A second unit, which is mobile, will continue to tour the county so women can be screened closer to home.

Deputy superintendent radiographer Debbie Garrod said: “Changes have largely come about due to the extension of the national Breast Screening Programme and additional funding from NHS Suffolk. Previously women between the ages of 50 and 70 were invited but we are gradually introducing screening for women from 47.
“This requires that all imaging becomes fully digital, both on the screening units and within the hospital’s Breast Imaging Department where patients with symptoms and those who need further assessment are seen.”

The Breast Imaging Department in the hospital’s main Outpatients area is undergoing extensive refurbishment. It has new x-ray, ultrasound and reporting equipment.

Building work is set to continue until the end of March. The reception area is being redesigned and the waiting room made bigger.