Breastscreen unit launches in Wellsford

Wellsford women will be the first in New Zealand to have the benefit of faster, fully digital breastscreening in a mobile clinic.

Breastscreen Aotearoa has just completed its first mobile digital unit and will launch it in Wellsford from January 11 to 15. The advantage of the digital technology is that the operator can see the images immediately and check that they are clear enough, avoiding the need for women to return a second time if an image is blurred, as sometimes happens with the old, ‘film’ technology.

BreastScreen Waitemata/Northland programme manager Moira McLeod says digital screening is also faster, which means more women can be seen in the week the unit is in town. The new mobile unit can offer mammograms for up to 40 women a day and is nicer than its predecessor, with bigger changing rooms and a private waiting area.

“We hope to get it to Wellsford a few days early, about the seventh of January, for a blessing and welcome, because this is its first outing,” Moira says.

“There is a fixed breastscreen site in Warkworth but this is really about taking the service to women in small rural towns. After Wellsford, the unit will go on to Dargaville and then Kaiwaka.”

The unit will be parked outside the Wellsford Community Centre for a week and women can make appointments by calling 0800 270 200. Women aged 45 to 69 are entitled to a free mammogram every two years.