News and media releases from the Surrey Heartlands area
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Breast screening unit comes to RHS Wisley
Surrey residents can now attend appointments at a new NHS Breast Cancer Screening site at RHS Wisley in Woking.
The state-of-the-art mobile scanning unit will be stationed in the car park from now until February 2026. Commissioned by NHS England South East, the screening service is provided on behalf of the NHS by InHealth, the UK’s largest specialist provider of diagnostic and healthcare solutions.
More than 9,000 people aged 50-70 across North Surrey will be invited to visit the unit for routine breast screening, where they will see a female health specialist called a Mammographer.
Those aged 71 or over, will not automatically be invited for breast screening, however, have the right to free screening every 3 years on request. They will need to phone or write to their local breast screening unit to make an appointment.
Breast screening uses X-rays called mammograms to check your breasts for any signs of abnormal changes, aiming to catch cancer at the earliest stage. For every 1,000 screens, around 9 breast cancers are found, diagnosed and treated earlier, offering the best chance of survival.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, with the chances of getting breast cancer increasing as you get older. Around 1 in 7 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime.
Attending your breast screening when invited every 3 years is so important because it can detect cancer before you notice any symptoms. If you have any reasonable adjustments that would make attending your appointment easier, you can contact the service on 0333 200 2062.
Dr Charlotte Canniff, Surrey GP and Joint Chief Medical Officer for Surrey Heartlands, said:
“We are really pleased to welcome the screening unit at the popular RHS Wisley site. We find that even the presence of a screening unit at a popular visitor attraction can help prompt people to book their screening appointment. We also find that people are more likely to book in and attend a place that is local, convenient and less clinical.”
Morag Armer, Consultant in Public Health and Screening & Immunisation Lead for Surrey & Sussex, NHSE South East, said:
“This is an exciting new venue. We want as many eligible people as possible to be screened. Regular breast screening is one of the best ways to spot a cancer that is too small to feel or see yourself – it saves around 1,300 lives each year in the UK.”
Elwyn Owen, Head of Site at RHS Garden Wisley, said:
“RHS Wisley is glad to host the mobile scanning unit and hope that it will be a convenient and scenic location for those attending screening appointments. If seeing the unit here encourages more people to book, we are more than happy to help.”