Women in Gosberton, Holbeach, Moulton and Spalding urged to attend appointments for mobile breast screening unit at Pinchbeck

Women are being urged to take advantage of the free mobile breast screening service which will be in the area from the beginning of August.

The Lincolnshire Breast Screening Service will be bringing its mobile unit to the car park at Johnson Community Hospital, in Pinchbeck.

Women over the age of 50 who are registered at six local practices will be invited to attend the unit for screening.

Thanks to the NHS screening programme, cancers - which may not have been diagnosed and treated until it was too late - were detected in 18,942 women across England in 2022-23.

United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s Breast Services Operational Manager, Alysa Page,Manager, Alysa Page, said: “Early detection of breast cancer is crucial in improving a woman’s prognosis and so we strongly encourage women to attend a breast screening session.

“Little is known about how to prevent breast cancer, but the earlier it is found the better the chance for successful treatment. About one in seven women are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. There’s a good chance of recovery if it’s detected in its early stages. Providing a screening service is part of the work being done to reduce this life threatening disease.”

Breast screening is carried out every three years for all women in the UK who are aged 50 and over. Women aged between 50 and 70 are routinely invited for screening.

Women will receive their first invitation for screening anywhere between their 50th and 53rd birthday. Anyone who experiences any symptoms before being invited or between their routine three yearly invitations should always contact their GP, rather than waiting for their screening appointment.

Women will be automatically notified they are due for screening and will be sent an appointment letter detailing their appointment date and time.

Those aged 71 and over who would like to have a mammogram are encouraged to contact their local screening office for an appointment.

However many women are not attending their appointments.

National figures show that 1.93 million women attended screening appointments out of the 2.98 million invited in 2022-23.

Women who are registered with the following surgeries will be invited:

- Gosberton Medical Centre

- Munro Medical Centre, Spalding

- Beechfield Medical Centre, Spalding,

- Moulton Medical Centre

- Littlebury Medical Centre, Holbeach

- Holbeach Medical Centre

If this location is not convenient or patients are not able to access the mobile unit due to mobility problems screening can be booked into Lincoln, Boston and Grantham hospitals.

For further information about the breast screening service please contact the breast screening administration office on 01522 573999 or email ulh-tr.breastscreening@nhs.net

If patients do not wish to attend please contact the screening office via telephone or email to cancel their invitation to allow invitations to be offered to other ladies.