BREASTCHECK TO COMMENCE SCREENING WOMEN FROM CO CLARE
- 30 July 2009
The National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS) is delighted to confirm that BreastCheck - The National Breast Screening Programme will begin providing women aged 50 to 64 living in the north Co Clare area with free breast x-rays (mammograms) from August 2009.
The first women to be screened have already received letters from BreastCheck with information about breast screening. Following this, women will automatically receive an appointment by post, giving a minimum of seven days notice of their appointment. Women in north Clare will be screened at the BreastCheck Western Unit, Newcastle Road, Galway.
BreastCheck screens women on an area-by-area basis, based on electoral divisions, and as the service moves wider into Co Clare, a mobile digital screening unit will be located in the county. There are in excess of 8,000 eligible women aged 50 to 64 in Co Clare and it is expected that BreastCheck will continue screening women in the county for at least 10 months.
BreastCheck advises all women aged 50 to 64 to check that they are on the BreastCheck register. Once on the register and known to the Programme, women will automatically receive a BreastCheck appointment. Women can check that they are on the register by calling Freephone 1800 45 45 55 or checking online at www.breastcheck.ie.
The Government-funded programme is offered to women aged 50 to 64 on a two-yearly cycle and BreastCheck urges all invited women to attend their appointment. A BreastCheck mammogram is a simple procedure and an appointment only takes about half an hour in total. The aim of screening is to detect early breast cancer. The vast majority of women screened are found to be perfectly healthy with less than one per cent diagnosed with cancer.
A specialist BreastCheck multi-disciplinary team provides the screening service to women. Quality assurance standards in operation throughout BreastCheck include the double-reading of all mammograms by two seperate, specially trained radiologists, the use of triple assessment for women that need further investigation, and the continuing audit and maintenance of all equipment used.
BreastCheck is the first national screening service provider worldwide to offer a fully digital mammography service. The decision to transfer to full digital mammography was taken following a successful pilot programme that demonstrated significant improvements in diagnostic accuracy.
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