State-of-the-art mobile equipment costing £325,000 to aid the diagnosis of breast cancer has been donated to Cheltenham General Hospital by the Cobalt Appeal Fund thanks to local people and their continued support.

The Unit has a newly developed digital imaging system giving instant superb quality pictures which will help speed up the service and cut waiting times, it will be used both by the County's NHS Screening and Symptomatic Services.

Consultant Radiologist Prof Iain Lyburn said: “The Gloucestershire Breast Screening Service will be one of the first in the country to be able to offer mobile digital mammography.”

“We are very grateful to the Cobalt Appeal Fund for providing us with the latest technology which will allow us to provide a quicker, more efficient service for our patients.”

Bowel cancer screening

The Cobalt Appeal Fund funded the post of Research Registrar in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust. Adrian Thuraisingam developed endoscopy based training methodologies for clinical staff, both at local and national level in the UK. The initiative formed part of a wider strategy to improve training of all endoscopy health professionals and prepare the country for bowel cancer screening. People residing in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire will benefit from this patient-focused research. Patients with suspected gastrointestinal-related cancer will be able to expect appropriate and rapid access to high quality endoscopic services locally. Dr Anderson – Consultant General Physician and Gastroenteroligist for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust said “The whole package of training received great acclaim and is now internationally recognised and we are leaders in the field of endoscopy service delivery and skills training. Ultimately it is the patients and population in general who will be best served by this research.”