Patients from Preston and Chorley, who would have been admitted into hospital and taken into theatre for surgery to remove suspicious breast lesions and small breast tumours, may now be able to be treated on an outpatient basis thanks to new equipment bought for the Central Lancashire Breast Unit at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, using our charitable funds.
We have spent £8,325 on an Akrus Mammography and Biopsy Positioning Chair, which enables a mammography guided procedure called Vacuum Assisted Excision (VAE) to be undertaken.
Consultant sonographer practitioner Kate Greenwood, who applied for the chair’s funding alongside lead mammographer Caroline Gawne, explained: “Avoiding a theatre-based surgical procedure in favour of VAE has many benefits for patients and a significant cost benefit to the trust.
“First and foremost, being treated as an outpatient rather than an in-patient reduces anxiety. Patients also don’t have to worry about having a general anaesthetic and its associated recovery. This makes VAE a consideration for those patients regarded as a high risk for anaesthesia because of other health issues.
“VAE is also a quicker procedure in comparison to surgical excision with reduced scarring potential. Also, it is quicker in terms of having it undertaken because the patient doesn’t have to wait for a theatre slot to become available and for a hospital appointment for pre-operative checks, which inevitably lead to a stressful delay.”
Kate added: “At the unit, we have been working to expand and develop our imaging breast intervention service of which VAE is part. However, the mammography chair we had did not have the adaptability to make VAE possible. Thanks to Rosemere Cancer Foundation, our new Akrus chair is fully positionable, meaning that VAE is procedure we can now offer to our patients.”
Thank you so much to our supporters for making the purchase of this chair possible – we know this will make a huge difference for patients who will be able to undergo VAE rather than having to be admitted into hospital and undergo a general anaesthetic.