Breast care

Somerset Foundation Trust has two breast care units, one at Musgrove Park Hospital and one at Yeovil District Hospital.

We also run a screening service and have 2 vans which rotate around the county as well as a static site at Musgrove park Hospital.

Patients who display symptoms of breast cancer need to visit their GP first. The GP will then refer you into our services if required.

The screening service invites ladies who are between the ages of 50 and 70 years old to be screened, every 3 years. Patients with poor mobility can be screened at the Breast Care Centre in Taunton which offers disabled access. All women with an abnormality shown on their screening mammogram are recalled to an assessment clinic. If treatment is required you will be cared for at either Musgrove Park Hospital or Yeovil Hospital.

Breast screening (mammogram) – NHS

The specialist breast care team cover all aspects of breast care including treatment for benign breast disease and breast cancer. We use modern surgical techniques to provide excellent cancer treatment and promote rapid surgical recovery, with most of our patients going home on the same day as their surgery.  This includes minimally invasive lymph node surgery, oncoplastic breast conserving surgery and some types of breast reconstruction.

Our services are delivered by a group of breast care specialists including:

• breast surgeons
• radiologists
• specialist radiographers
• oncologists
• pathologists
• breast care nurses
• cancer support workers.

We all work closely together and meet each week to discuss newly diagnosed patients. As a team we discuss individual treatment plans and ensure that these start as quickly as possible. Our patients are always at the centre of the decision-making process.

If you have been referred to our breast clinic it is natural to feel anxious but it’s important to remember that 93% of people attending the clinic do not have a serious abnormality such as cancer.

We want to make your visit to the clinic as easy as possible so please let us know if you have any special requirements such as an interpreter, signer or wheelchair access. You can contact the appointments desk on 01935 384432 for Yeovil Hospital or 01823 342425 for Musgrove Park Hospital.

We hold a clinic for people referred by their GP also known as symptomatic patients – every weekday at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and Monday to Thursday at Yeovil District Hospital.

In Yeovil we run a breast pain clinic for women suffering with this common condition but who have no other breast symptoms. In this clinic you will be seen by a breast clinician, who will carry out a thorough assessment of your breast pain. We do not offer breast imaging at this appointment.

The reconstruction service provides patients with breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, when it is clinically appropriate. This includes implant only or latissimus dorsi flap breast reconstructions. We carry out immediate reconstructions following surgery but in some cases it is appropriate to delay reconstructions until after cancer treatment. We can carry out nipple reconstruction and tattooing.

We also offer oncoplastic surgery which includes therapeutic mammoplasty, which is when the breast cancer is removed and the remaining breast tissue is repositioned to allow a better cosmetic result. This depends on the position and size of the breast cancer, the size and shape of the natural breast and the patient’s general health.

Breast reconstruction using abdominal-based (tummy-based) free flaps is performed by plastic surgeons at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital.

We fully understand the emotional and physical impact that breast surgery can have and for this reason we offer a breast reconstruction service and our breast care nurse specialists who work across Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton and Yeovil Hospital provide expert guidance and support whenever you need it.

The prosthesis clinic for the county is held twice monthly at Musgrove Park Hospital and daily at Yeovil Hospital. This is for women who are awaiting reconstruction surgery, have chosen not to have reconstructive surgery or are not suitable for reconstructive surgery.

When you feel that you are ready for a prosthesis please call us on 01823 342454 to get booked onto the clinic. An external fitter will measure and assess you for a prosthesis that suits your body shape and size to make it look as natural as possible. Should you need to reorder a prosthesis or if you have any problems with your prosthesis after the clinic please call us on 01823 342454.

Many people have concerns about a family history of breast cancer, although only a small number of cancers are inherited. Most of the people we see in this clinic are women who have been to their GP with concerns about the risk of breast cancer to themselves and their children and would like a genetic test or early breast screen.

Once your GP has referred you we will send you (via your GP) a questionnaire asking for information about all your relatives, types of cancer in the family and at what age your relatives were diagnosed with the disease. Our practitioners will do a risk assessment for you based on your questionnaire. If they find you at increased risk they will arrange an appointment for you in the Family History clinic to discuss this further. This is appointment is usually around 45 minutes long.

If we do not feel you or your family are at increased risk, we will send you some helpful information and we will not offer you an appointment at the clinic.