Your Worcester News is backing a campaign to raise £2.5m for a new breast cancer unit at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Worcester
What will the new unit be like?
Currently being used by managerial staff, the L-shaped building near the Charles Hastings Education Centre in the grounds of Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester will contain a waiting room, examination rooms and support offices, consulting rooms, mammography rooms, a radiological reporting area, theatres for ultrasound and minor or local anaesthetic procedures, counselling rooms for reflection and discussion, space for use by support groups and other patient activities, a prosthesis fitting room, changing facilities and bathrooms and officers for secretaries and clinician.
Outside there will be dedicated parking for 30 cars and a garden for patients and visitors.
Charity leaders hope the breast unit will be able to offer complementary therapies, gym and exercise therapies and that specialists will be able to perform minor operations there.
Consultant Steven Thrush said he hoped the building, which has environmentally friendly under-floor heating, would be “the first green breast care unit”.
What are the advantages?
- More clinics with fewer people, reducing overcrowding and waiting times
- Evening clinics to improve access
- Specialist clinics for men with breast conditions and for people at genetic risk of developing breast cancer
- Flexible space for complementary therapies, gym and exercise therapy and space for support group meetings
- Less need for patients to make return visits
How many people will benefit?
Almost 500 people in Worcestershire are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and it estimated there will be 6,000 out-patient appointments annually in the new unit. About one in three women will see a breast specialist at some point in their life and about one on nine will develop breast cancer.
Who is supporting it?
The campaign has the support of several major patrons, including Michael Brinton, Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire, and cricketer Graeme Hick. The campaign already has 41 patrons, including Worcester News editor Kevin Ward.
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