Devon NHS Trust marks 20 years of breast screening

The trust has scanned about 200,000 women over the past two decades

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is marking 20 years of its breast screening programme.

Over the past two decades, the trust has screened more than 200,000 women and detected about 2,000 cancers, saving lives in the process.

The trust said its mobile unit and team of mammographers travel the length and breadth of the Torbay and South Devon NHS patch to offer breast screening to clients in their own communities.

Staff who have worked at the breast screening unit for the past two decades will be in attendance later to mark the occasion at Torbay Hospital, along with members of the trust and patients.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "Screening mammograms help us to detect breast cancer at a very early opportunity, most commonly before a breast lump is even felt.

"Early diagnosis means earlier treatment, better outcomes and improved survival rates for patients."

In 2023 the team screened 12,777 women in both its mobile and static units.

Some 12,303 of these had a normal result, with 474 investigated for further assessment.