Breast screening

Clinics

Breast screening services are offered at Charing Cross and St Mary's hospitals and in the community.

Breast screening clinic at Charing Cross Hospital

Address

Breast Screening Unit
First Floor, West Wing
Charing Cross Hospital
Fulham Palace Road
London W6 8RF

Breast screening clinic at St Mary’s Hospital

Address

Breast Screening Unit
Third Floor
Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) Building
St Mary’s Hospital
Praed Street
London W2 1NY

Please note: The Queen Elizabeth Queen Mother (QEQM) building can be accessed from South Wharf Road.

Breast Screening Clinic at Hanwell Medical Centre

Breast Screening Unit,
Hanwell Medical Centre, 
20 Church Road, 
London W7 1DR 

Breast screening clinic at Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health

Address

Breast Screening Unit
Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health
92 Bath Road
Hounslow TW3 3EL

Breast screening clinic at Uxbridge Health Centre

Address

Breast Screening Unit
Room 101
Uxbridge Health Centre
George Street
Uxbridge
Middlesex UB8 1UB

Hours

Clinic opening times vary throughout the year; some early evening and Saturday appointments are available. The time and location of appointments can easily be changed, and you can be screened at any of our five clinics across west London. Up to date information can be found at https://www.london-breastscreening.org.uk/.

Contact information

Phone (for all clinics): 020 3758 2024

Meet the team

Our screening service is provided by a multidisciplinary team: 

• Administrators are responsible for booking your appointment, sending your invitation letter and processing your screening results 
  
• Radiographers perform your screening test, a type of x-ray known as a mammogram, and process the x-ray films 
  
• Radiologists read and interpret your mammogram results 
• Radiologists will assess you if the results from your mammogram are inconclusive and further tests are needed 
• Breast care nurses offer advice and care if you need to return for further tests after screening

Consultant radiologists

Dr Deborah Cunningham 
Dr Nigel Barrett
Dr Stella Comitis, deputy director of WoLBSS
Dr Sylvie Flais
Dr Neelofer Zaman 
Dr Victoria Stewart 
Dr Neil Upadhyay 
Dr Hema Purushothaman, director of WoLBSS 
Dr Angela Gupta 
Dr Tran Seaton
Dr Sarah George

Surgeons

Katy Hogben 
Daniel Leff
Paul Thiruchelvam
Hirah Rizki
Meera Joshi

Programme manager

Camille Cepeda

Superintendent radiographer

Julie Somers

Deputy superintendent radiographers

Sally Kirkcaldy
Jen Au

Breast care nurse

Vickki Harmer, team leader

Patient information

Appointment reminders

We can send text reminders 10 days and then 48 hours before your appointment if you provide us with your mobile number. You can do this by calling 020 3311 1288 or via our website: https://www.london-breastscreening.org.uk/. If you have been screened before we may already have a mobile number for you. Please let us know if this has changed or if you do not want to receive a text.

Before your appointment

You are welcome to bring a relative or close friend with you to your appointment. All mammographers are female. If a patient sees a male doctor in the assessment clinic, he will be assisted by a female.

We recommend that you to wear something that allows you to easily undress from the waist upwards, such as a skirt and top or trousers. Please avoid using spray deodorant and talcum powder on the day of your appointment.

Please bring with you your appointment letter and a cardigan or shawl to put over your shoulders. If you can't speak English, please come with someone who can and bring some form of ID.

Before your appointment, please call 020 3758 2024 if you have had a mammogram in the past six months, have breast implants, are pregnant or breastfeeding, require help standing, or if you have other special needs.

During your appointment

When you arrive, check in at the reception desk. Waiting times are usually short and most women are seen within 15 minutes of their stated appointment time.

Please note that medical students may be present for some appointments. If you do not wish to have them in the room please let the nurse or doctor know and the students will be asked to step outside.

You should allow an hour for your appointment, but most women will be ready to leave within 30 minutes. On arrival at the breast screening unit, you will be met by a radiographer who will confirm your appointment.

A radiographer will show you to a private cubicle and ask you to undress from the waist up. We recommend that you wear separates, i.e. a top and a skirt or trousers, which will enable you to do this more easily. Please note that we do not routinely provide gowns, so suggest that you bring a cardigan or shawl to put over your shoulders until you have your mammogram. You will be able to leave your clothes and personal items safely in the cubicle whilst you are having your mammogram.

When you are ready, the radiographer will show you into the screening room and explain how the mammogram is taken. She will also answer any questions you may have. A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast and is performed by a specially trained radiographer. During the mammogram, each breast is compressed in turn between two small flat plates attached to the x-ray machine. Two x-rays of each breast are taken, one from above and one from the side. Compression is necessary to obtain the best images and you may find this uncomfortable. Our radiographers are trained to ensure that the minimum pressure is used and is applied for only a few seconds. The whole procedure should take less than five minutes.

Once the mammogram has been taken, you will be shown back to the cubicle to get dressed. Before leaving the unit you will be given an information sheet which tells you when you can expect to receive your results and also how you can be breast aware between your screening appointments.

After your appointment

The results will be sent to you and your GP within two to three weeks of the appointment. If your results are normal, we will automatically invite you to be screened again in three years’ time. If the results are uncertain, you will be invited to attend the assessment clinic because we need to carry out further tests before we can decide on the result of your breast screening images. For the majority of women asked to return to the assessment clinic, nothing of concern will be found. However, it is important that you attend your appointment so that any abnormalities can be identified and treated quickly. 

Follow-up appointments

Some women are invited to attend the assessment clinic for a follow-up appointment. What happens during your appointment will depend on the tests required, but you will probably have some more mammograms taken, be examined by a doctor and then have an ultrasound scan of the breast. An ultrasound scan uses sound waves to give a picture of the breast tissue. It is painless, harmless and does not involve any x-rays. Often this further investigation will confirm that everything is normal.

Further investigations

If there is still some uncertainty, the doctor will want to remove a small sample of breast tissue (known as a ‘biopsy’) for examination in the laboratory. A local anaesthetic is given prior to inserting a special needle in the breast and removing a small section of tissue. This may cause some temporary pain and bruising, which can be relieved by applying an ice pack to the area or by taking paracetamol. The length of your appointment will depend on the tests required, but you may be with us for up to four hours. You are welcome to bring a friend or family member with you, but they will not be able to stay in the room with you if you need to have further x-rays. If possible, we will give you the results of your tests on the same day. However, if you have a biopsy, the tissue will need to be examined in the laboratory and we will give you an appointment to return to the clinic, usually within one week, for your results.  

Risks

Any x-rays you have, including mammograms, will expose you to a small amount of radiation. Mammograms only require a very low dose of x-rays, and any risk is greatly outweighed by the benefits of early breast cancer detection.

Refer to this service

GPs do not need to refer to this service. Appointments are automatically sent by the West of London Breast Screening Service, on a three-yearly basis, to all eligible women registered with GP practices in west London, central London, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Hillingdon, and Hounslow CCGs. GP practices are notified approximately two months before eligible women registered with them are invited for screening.

To prevent invitations being sent inappropriately, practices are asked to provide the names of women exempt from breast screening, for example women who have had a bi-lateral mastectomy or who need to be ceased under the mental capacity act.

The exception to this is women who have a family history/higher risk of developing breast cancer. All referrals must be accompanied by a letter from a genetics or oncology service indicating their level of risk.

Some eligible women can self-refer to this service

Women under 53: If a woman is under 53 and has received an invitation that she cancelled or did not attend, the West of London Breast Screening Service (WoLBSS) can book a screening appointment as required. All other women should receive their first screening invitation by their 53rd birthday. If an invitation has not been received by that time, the woman should contact WoLBSS.

Women over 53: If a woman is over 53 and has not been invited for breast screening within the last three years, she can contact WoLBSS to make an appointment. WoLBSS will investigate why an appointment has not been received and, if appropriate, will then book one.

Women over 70: Women over the age of 70 can request screening every three years. They should contact WoLBSS directly at 020 3758 2024 to make an appointment.