Breast screening unit set up at supermarket

The unit will be at the Godwin Way store for nine months

A breast screening unit has been set up at a Stoke-on-Trent branch of Aldi.

The University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) has joined forces with the supermarket to improve access to free cancer screening by residents.

The unit at the Godwin Way store will open to visitors on Friday, ahead of the first patients using the facility on Monday.

Screening at the supermarket will play a role in helping UHNM reach a target of assessing more than 11,500 women for breast cancer in the next two years.

All visits are by appointment only and will be allocated to patients via their GP.

The unit will operate for at least nine months, opening between 09:00 BST and 16:30 on week days, the store said.

'Early detection vital'

Mary Dunn, regional managing director at Aldi UK, said: “We’re pleased to announce that our store in Stoke-on-Trent will be hosting an on-site breast cancer screening unit in partnership with the NHS.

“Anyone from the local community or beyond is welcome to make their way down to our Godwin Way Store in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday to view the unit for themselves and find out more about the screening process.”

Local women aged between 50 and 70, who are registered with a GP, are invited for a routine mammogram every three years with the all-female, UHNM-led breast screening service.

“One in seven women will get breast cancer in their lifetime, and early detection is vital," Michelle Ellitts, superintendent radiographer and programme manager at UHNM, said.

"Those diagnosed early through breast cancer screening have a more than 95% chance of surviving, so it’s extremely important that we can take our breast cancer screening unit out into our local communities."