Aughton Surgery is celebrating after meeting their national breast screening targets, despite Covid-19 restrictions being in place.

In just six months, the practice on Town Green Lane achieved the 70 per cent uptake following a pause in breast screening in March 2020, which was then resumed in July 2020.

Sandra Guppy, Practice Manager, said: “We were thrilled with the amount of women who have attended their breast screening appointments during this pandemic. “Some women were a little concerned about attending due to Covid-19 but once they had been re-assured that restrictions were in place during the examination they were happy to attend. This is an amazing result for our patients.”

All possible precautions, in line with government advice, were put in place at the surgery including cleaning of equipment after each patient, staff wearing full PPE and both staff and patients adhering to social distancing measures.

Janet Ellison, Patient Navigator for South Lancashire Breast Screening Unit said: “To achieve the National target of 70 per cent uptake of breast screening examinations is an incredible result for eligible women from the surgery.?

“The Covid-19 pandemic has been a challenging period for all NHS services but, with the help of our staff, we have been able to restore confidence and support some patients who were a little anxious of attending their appointments. Breast screening resumed services in July 2020 with full Covid-19 restrictions in place to protect patients and staff.

Janet added: “It is important that women attend their breast screening appointments because if breast cancer is diagnosed at the earliest stage of its development, it is estimated that, after five years, 99 out of 100 women diagnosed will still be alive, so being screened regularly and detecting changes early is crucial.”