South Essex Breast Screening Service
Welcome to the South Essex NHS Breast Screening service.
Our Southend Hospital breast unit and its three dedicated mobile screening vans, currently cater for a population of approximately 94,000 women from the Shoebury, Thorpe Bay, Southend, Westcliff, Leigh, Thundersley, Canvey, Basildon, Stanford, Corringham, Grays, Lakeside, Rochford, Hockley, Rayleigh, Billericay and Wickford areas.
Update - 22-09-20 - Breast
screening resumes
We are pleased to announce that all 3 of our mobile units are
now open as well as the Breast Unit at Southend Hospital. We are
currently inviting women who were due to be invited throughout the
summer and were delayed an invite due to the pause.
You may notice that you will now recieve an open invitation
letter asking to call us rather than a timed appointment as
before.
If you have any questions about the way screening will now run
or whether you will be due to recieve a letter please contact the
screening office on 01702 385024.
Please note that it may take longer than usual for you to
recieve your invitation for breast screening due to the number of
patients we need to catch up on and the reduced clinic capacity we
now have.
In the meantime, if you have any changes in your breasts or
symptoms that are causing you concern, please DO NOT WAIT FOR YOUR
SCREENING APPOINTMENT and contact your General Practitioner
(GP).
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The breast screening service was first introduced to the NHS in
1987, following a report which highlighted the importance of
implementing a high quality screening service to reduce mortality
of women from breast cancer.
To achieve this, mammograms (X-rays) of both breasts are taken and
then interpreted by two highly qualified mammography film
readers.
Current statistics show that approximately one in eight women in
the UK will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their
lifetime.
The aim of this service is to detect breast cancer at an early
stage, often before any symptoms have been noted, so that treatment
may therefore be simpler, more effective and enable a better chance
of recovery.
MOBILE UNIT LOCATIONS FOR YOU TO BOOK IN TO
- Southend Hospital Breast Unit
- Warrior Square Mobile Unit (SS1 2NQ)
- Canvey Island Mobile Unit (SS8 7AD)
- Basildon Mobile Unit (SS14 1DL)
Contact breast screening office: 01702 385024
Email: bss@southend.nhs.uk
Useful links
Pink leaflet 'helping women decide' available here in various
languages- Click here
NHS choices website for a comprehensive index of information- Click Here
More information about breast screening with implants- Click Here
An easy read leaflet about breast screening for people with
learning disabilities- Click Here