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An open letter from the Chair of Dorset County Hospital Charity’s 2011 Digital Mammography Appeal – Mrs Wendy Nightingale.    

I have set out to raise half a million pounds for Dorset County Hospital.

This is an appeal which is close to my heart.  I have been treated for Breast Cancer at Dorset County Hospital and I want to make sure that other women and men in Dorset have access to the best available equipment, staff and experience they can have, close to home.

It is no mean feat but I want to raise this money to fund the installation of digital mammography equipment so that the hospital can offer the best service to those in Dorset with symptoms or a diagnosis of breast cancer.

One in nine women will develop breast cancer and one in four of these women will die from this disease. Three hundred men are diagnosed each year in the UK with breast cancer. The earlier the diagnosis, the greater the rate of survival.

Digital mammography is a pressing need for our Hospital. The need is now and we aim to address it, with the help of our community, as soon as possible. We want the very best capability for our patients and to be able to safe-guard this vital service in our Hospital.

This much needed equipment will take diagnostic imaging for breast cancer from film and chemicals to digital. The benefits for the Hospital and patients are enormous: faster diagnosis, much more accurate detection and the ability to treat greater numbers - keeping DCHFT abreast with technological advancements in health care.

We currently have one X-ray device in the Breast Care Unit which is now 12 years old. It uses a film-based imaging process. This processing takes time and has now been superseded by far superior digital imaging which yields instant images and which Radiographers are being trained to use.

The old equipment was the best of its kind when we bought it but it is now outdated.  It is getting harder to repair as the parts are no longer as available as they were when it was new.  It is the same as your own washing machine: at some point it’s just better to buy a new one.

What further impresses the need for digital mammography is the current national shortage of consultant radiologists with expertise in imaging and interpreting breast radiographs. We need to attract and retain the best consultants and to “future-proof” this service at our Hospital, and therefore must keep up with technological advancements.Crucially, we cannot share information with the other centres of excellence in the region, including the Poole-based Dorset Breast Screening Unit. 

Currently we have to courier film images between DCH and Poole, which costs money and delays diagnosis.  This is not very technologically advanced at all.

The advantages of Digital Imaging include:

• instant images
• less time waiting for diagnosis
• more patients examined during a clinic
• far superior image production
• detection of smaller and finer pathologies, especially in younger women where the tissue is denser
• instant access to expertise in other centres of excellence
• no exposure of staff to developing chemicals

If we do not act fast and address this need we will lose the opportunity to access expert opinion either on or off campus. Many consultants will not work with outmoded images which might compromise their professional reporting. Obsolete methods will lose our Hospital expertise and will ultimately result in the end of this important service at Dorset County Hospital.

When troubled with illness, whether for ourselves or loved ones, we all want to know that help is on our doorstep.

 Will you give just £1 and help us achieve our goal? 

 

With best wishes

 

 

 

Wendy Nightingale

Chairwoman of the Digital Mammography Appeal