A breast screening service which invites 18,000 women every year has clocked up its quarter century anniversary and is currently supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The unit, which is run by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), was launched in 1991 when its screening population was 33,000, taken from the 50 – 64 years age group and invited over three years.

Now the screening population is 57,000 from a much more diverse 47- to 73-year-old demographic.

Dr Sally Bradley, who set up the service after returning to work following six months’ maternity leave, is still running it today.

“We set up in a small unit with just one mammography machine at Selly Oak Hospital,” she recalls. “There was no national screening programme at all before that.

“I ran it as a single-handed consultant for the first 18 months but we also had Zoe Vegnuti, the Breast Services Manager, Manjit Sanghera, one of the radiographers, and Sandra Davis, Clerical Officer, on the original team – and they are still here now.

“In those days, as now, we followed national guidance doing single view mammography only.

“The main change over the years has been in the numbers of women to be screened, a move to two-view mammography and changing demographics of the screening population. The whole demographic has changed and we now aim for at least 70% attendance with a proactive health promotion programme.”

The service moved from Selly Oak to the Women’s Hospital, on the Queen Elizabeth campus, in November 2002.

Over the past three years a mobile clinic has carried out the bulk of the screening across six sites and the service has recently acquired a second mobile unit.

Dr Bradley is now looking forward to her retirement in January 2017.

“I feel like I’ve done my bit!” she says. “I’ve got a new dog so I’ll be puppy training – and I’m looking forward to holidays and spending more time at our cottage in Derbyshire.

“There are a lot of people I will miss but I will keep in touch with my close friends.”