More breast patients to be treated in outpatients thanks to charity's latest buy

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 by Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

- By Julie Frankland Contributor

The charity has 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 inpatient 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.