Sue Ross, left, and Women’s Health Care and BreastScreen manager Kimberley Kyatt with the new $250,000 mammography machine. PICTURE: KATE HEALY
Women with breast lumps will have faster access to an affordable diagnostic breast screening service thanks to a new mammography machine installed at Ballarat Base Hospital.
The fully digital machine, worth $250,000, will enable the public hospital to conduct diagnostic screens onsite.
The state-of-the-art digital technology will also mean better quality images and a lower radiation dose.
Women’s Health Care and BreastScreen manager Kimberley Kyatt said the new machine was already doing about 20 screens a week.
She said it filled the service gap that previously existed for women who did not qualify for BreastScreen.
These woman had faced a six week waiting list to get into an affordable service.
“BreastScreen is for Asymptomatic women,” she said.
“For women who have got breast lumps or who are under 40 there was a hole in the service.”
