George Eustice, MP for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle has today welcomed the news that breast cancer services in Cornwall will be expanded to meet growing demand.
In 2018/19 a total of 42,000 people were seen by Royal Cornwall Hospital’s breast services, which includes 25,000 women through the screening assessments as part of the National Breast Screening Programme.
For the Mermaid Centre to continue to provide its recognised gold standard service and see all new breast referrals within two weeks, the service has embarked upon a modernisation initiative to ensure the smooth-running of referrals into a more responsive clinic framework. This is in order to maintain the ability to see all people who have symptoms in the Mermaid Centre within the two weeks of referral. This service redesign has been achieved through a full collaborative approach between clinicians and commissioners and has been endorsed by Public Health England.
From Monday, May 13, GPs will be able to refer lower risk people to an additional clinic. Shorter waits and a more efficient service will be good news for patients across Cornwall.
This is the latest in a number of recent investments which demonstrates the Government’s commitments to health services in Cornwall. In December 2018 the Department of Health and Social Care agreed to fund the Peripheral Site Optimisation scheme with new investment of £9.1 million which will deliver improved clinical facilities at RCHT and eradicate backlog maintenance. The Oncology & MRI Re-provision scheme will receive new investment of £31.326 million which will deliver improvements to the Oncology/Haematology Ward and the MRI Department.
In April 2019 RCHT secured an additional £4.8 million NHS funding for urgent equipment replacement and fire safety related works.
George said, "The expansion and modernisation of breast cancer services in Cornwall is good news for all who rely on these vital services. I am pleased the funding has been provided so that more women can receive the care that they need. I and my colleagues in Cornwall will continue to work hard to ensure that health services in Cornwall continue to be the best that they can and receives the resources it needs."
