MOBILE breast screening services for women in Bradford are on the move to a new home.

The mobile unit run by the Pennine Breast Screening Service which has been based at St Luke’s Hospital in the city,will be moving to the car park of the Inspire Bradford Business Park just behind Eccleshill Community Hospital.

Principal Superintendent Radiographer Leah Richardson said: “The mobile unit plays an important role in the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and it is important that the service is as accessible as possible for the women we screen.

“We are very grateful to Newlands Community Association who own and manage Inspire Bradford Business Park for their support in offering us a new home from which to provide a service to the women from the local community, and hope they will take advantage of their invitation”.

The Pennine programme, which will still have its main base at St Luke’s, provides mobile breast screening for all women aged between 50 and 70 who are registered with an NHS GP.

They are invited for a breast X-ray every three years through an appointment system.

From its new location, the mobile unit will invite approximately 6,000 women from around Eccleshill and the surrounding areas for breast screening.

Women over 70 years old do not receive an automatic invitation but are still able to contact the screening office themselves on 01274 365521 to arrange an appointment.

The unit will be in Eccleshill from July onwards this year. Opening times for women with appointments will be 9.20am to 12.20pm, and 1.30pm to 4.20pm, Monday to Friday.

Ms Richardson said: “Breast screening appointments generally take no more than 30 minutes and can help to save lives. Overall, the breast screening programme finds cancer in about eight out of every 1,000 women having screening.”

Current evidence suggests that breast screening reduces the number of deaths from breast cancer by about 1,300 a year in the UK. Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at the earliest possible stage have a 90 per cent chance of surviving for at least five years after diagnosis.

Breast screening can show changes in the breast up to two years before symptoms might appear. “We would encourage all women who receive an invitation for screening to take up the offer of this important free health check,” added Ms Richardson.