Devon screening unit’s digital mammography room creates a seamless patient pathway
InHealth has installed a digital Hologic mammography room in the static unit at North and East Devon Breast Screening Unit in Exeter. InHealth delivers this service on behalf of the NHS and supports it with the provision of state-of-the-art equipment. The mammogram unit is complete with tomosynthesis and tomosynthesis-guided stereotactic biopsy capability and now it is fully operational the workflow of the screening service has improved.
The room is designed with a relaxing ambience to help put patients at ease and it offers increased accessibility for women with additional needs.
Clinical director Dr Rachael Currie said: “The new room means we can run the assessment clinic simultaneously with stereotactic biopsies, allowing the women to move seamlessly through the next pathway of their screening appointment.
“We now have double the capacity of screening appointments available on site. This means more timely appointments and future-proofs the service for a growing population.”
The room was officially opened by Sarah Sargent, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in December 2020. Staff in the breast screening unit set up donation pots and started to raise awareness of MND and Sarah’s fund-raising activities. InHealth also made a donation to Sarah’s Salt Path Challenge. She explained: “The one thing I have really realised with this diagnosis is that with terminal illness comes great responsibility. You need to be positive through adversity and everyone else will follow. I’m not living with MND, MND is living with me.”
Picture: Hologic applications specialist Diane Medley, administration manager Kim Gibbins, Hologic territory manager Emanuela Abello, Jenny Goncalves, Jane Harrington, service manager Julie Wragg, Claire Clarke, superintendent Charlotte Vertenten, Sarah Sargent, Emma Fogarty, Lovely Pabellon-Ma, recently retired service manager Sharron Bayles, Jo Board, Catherine Martin and public health commissioning manager Kirsty Edlin.
Published on page 16 of the December 2022 issue of RAD Magazine.