A visit to your Breast Clinic

What Happens at the ‘One Stop Breast Clinic’?

A Guide for Patients and Relatives

Welcome to the Breast Clinic

All staff at the University Hospital of North Durham would like to welcome you to the breast clinic. We realise that this can be a very worrying time for you and your family, and hope that this leaflet can answer some frequently asked questions.

Please feel free to bring a relative or friend with you when you come to the clinic; they will be able to stay with you during your appointment.

What Happens at the Breast Clinic?

At the breast clinic, your breasts will be examined and you may have some other tests in order to diagnose your breast condition.

Who will be there?

  • Mr Callanan, Mr Bhatti, and Mr Yousuf are surgeons who specialise in breast conditions.
  • Antoinette Moffa and Louise Hunter are our Breast Care Nurses.
  • Dr Van Breest Smallenburg and Dr Desai are consultants who specialise in interpreting images of the breasts and carrying out ultrasound scans.
  • Our team of female radiographers take mammograms (x-rays) of the breasts.

What is a clinical examination?

One of the breast surgeons will talk to you about your symptoms and carry out an examination of both of your breasts and under arms. Before this you will be asked to get changed into a special tunic top. During the examination they will assess any breast lumps or problems you are worried about. Following this they will talk to you about their findings and may recommend that you have one or more of the following tests.

What is a mammogram?

This is a special x-ray of the breasts. In total 4 pictures are taken (2 of each breast). To do this your breasts are placed between 2 x-ray plates which can feel slightly uncomfortable, but should only last for a few seconds. A female radiographer will perform this test.

What is an ultrasound?

This is another way of taking pictures of the breasts which can be especially useful in younger patients. Ultrasound gel is placed on your breasts and a probe placed over the gel in order to take the images. This is a similar to the test carried out for pregnant women to check their babies’ development, and it is usually painless.

What is a fine needle aspiration?

In this test cells from your breast are obtained by inserting a small needle into the area of interest, then sending them to the laboratory for testing. The area may feel slightly sore and bruised for a short while after this test, and we would recommend mild painkillers such as paracetamol if necessary.

What is a core biopsy?

This is similar to a fine needle aspiration, but a wider needle is used, and local anaesthetic is injected to numb the area first. This test obtains a small amount of tissue rather than cells, and takes longer to process in the laboratory.

When will I get the results?

In total you may be in the clinic for up to 4 hours, and the results of the tests are given the same day wherever possible. However, some tests take slightly longer to process, and in these cases you will be given another appointment to come back to clinic, usually within a week. We appreciate this will be an anxious time, and aim to get the results to you as soon as possible.

Where is the clinic?

All breast clinics take place at the University Hospital of North Durham, on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday each week.

How do I get further information?

Thank you for reading this leaflet, we hope it has answered some questions you may have had and helped to put your mind at ease. If you would like to ask any further questions about your appointment please do not hesitate to contact one of the Breast Care Nurses or the Consultant’s secretary;

Antoinette Moffa Breast Care Nurse01207 594404

Louise HunterBreast Care Nurse0191 333 2481

Mr Callanan’s Secretary 0191 333 2243

Mr Bhatti’s Secretary 0191 333 2274

Breast Care Service UHND

Revised Date: September 2015

Review Date: September 2017