AFTER years of campaigning and fundraising, Worcester's new life-saving breast unit is almost ready to open its doors.

The Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign was first launched back in 2009 to raise £1.8million and has been supported from the outset by your Worcester News.

Six years on and with the unit set to open potentially as soon as next month, Worcester News readers are being offered a first, exclusive look inside.

Light and airy and set within its own landscaped grounds, the new unit at 220 Newtown Road, on the site of Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, has the welcoming, non-clinical atmosphere patients and clinicians fought for from the very beginning.

Tucked away in a quieter corner of the Worcestershire Royal Hospital site, the unit offers an oasis of calm in what is a busy hospital.

One of the key advantages of the unit is bringing together a range of services in a single, dedicated unit.

Previously clinics were spread out throughout the main hospital, sometimes on different floors adding to the stress of the patient's journey. Prosthesis fitting would have been carried out behind a curtain in a small, cramped office in the main hospital.

But the first impression on entering the new breast unit is a sense of space. The interior has a warm and welcoming colour scheme which will be further enhanced with plants and other more homely touches.

The unit will have 18 car parking spaces for patients and two disabled bays, allaying the worries of patients who often complain of the difficulties they encounter trying to find a space at the busy hospital.

The design includes a large reception area, a clinic nurse reception, a treatment room for checks and biopsies, five consulting rooms, a hub for meetings to discuss the needs of individual patients, a breast care nurse office, a counselling room, an x-ray reception, a mammography unit and an ultra-sound room.

Shaped by patients for patients, the unit maintains their dignity and privacy at what can be a distressing time for them and their families.

There is a specific prosthesis fitting room following sometimes radical breast surgery and a dedicated place where people can reflect if they receive a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Consultant breast surgeon, Steven Thrush, who first launched the Worcestershire Breast Unit Campaign, hopes the unit will improve not only the standard of care but the quality of the entire patient experience, reducing the stress and anguish many patients will inevitably feel as they battle against breast cancer.

Mr Thrush said he cannot not wait to see the new unit open and that the people of Worcestershire should all be proud of their contribution.

He said: “It is improving survival but also the quality of the care."

Mr Thrush said he had been ‘blown away’ by the level of support shown by the community for the breast unit but admitted it had been 'a long time in the making' and said one of the biggest challenges was keeping up people's enthusiasm.

Over the years many people have passionately supported the campaign - not all of them still here today - and plans are being made to honour their memory and contribution in the new unit.

Although not all plans have been finalised yet, what is known is that one of the rooms, used for counselling, will be named after the popular late specialist breast care nurse Jacqui Heal who died in July 2007.

Mr Thrush also said the project is ‘unique’ because of the partnership with the Haven, integrated within the unit, which will provide emotional support as well as clinical care.

He hopes this will be a successful model of care in an NHS which is under increasing financial pressure and could be replicated elsewhere.

With the capital project complete, a new charity - Worcestershire Breast Unit Haven charity - has been launched to manage the ongoing needs of the breast unit.

The charity will raise funds towards a support service and some important, non-medical items such as wigs and mastectomy bras.