Women to benefit in new town check-ups

Hundreds of women across the Wyre Forest district will benefit from new cancer checks which are being introduced at Kidderminster Hospital.

It will an end to 30-mile round trips to Worcester and no more invasive surgery and lengthy hospital stays.

Women with breast cancer have previously had to travel to Worcestershire Royal Hospital at Worcester for vital tests.

The checks used to involve invasive surgery and stays in hospital for up to five days and meant 80 per cent of women experienced some form of side effect.

Now a new technique which has only been offered at Worcestershire Royal until now is being made available to women at Kidderminster.

Sentinel node biopsy is the name of the new surgery which is designed to make the checks less invasive.

The technique also means patients spending fewer days in hospital and suffer fewer side effects.

Introduced by Consultant Surgeon Miss Michelle Mullan, the operations are now being carried out by her at both Kidderminster and Worcester.

Since her appointment last year Miss Mullan, a trained Oncoplastic Surgeon, has also introduced other specialist forms of surgery.