Breast Unit

The Breast Unit offers a variety of outpatient services, including consultant-led symptomatic and screening clinics, and specialist nurse-led family history and lymphoedema clinics. 

We offer a wide range of breast benign and cancer treatments including state of the art diagnostics, specialised surgery, and chemotherapy treatment. Our unit has recently been accredited as a European centre for training by the European Breast Surgical Oncology Society (BRESO).

The unit receives over 1,500 new patient referrals every year. Our clinicians are assisted by a dedicated team of clinic nurses who are experienced in all aspects of patient care. 

The Breast Imaging Suite is next to the Broadland Suite, and offers a state of the art facility, including digital mammography, ultrasound with elastography, and interventional procedures such as vacuum assisted biopsy.

The unit performs over 17,000 mammograms every year. 

Our Breast Unit team - Photo courtesy of Claire Green Photography

Breast surgery and breast reconstruction

The breast surgery team consists of four consultant surgeons, supported by a team of allied clinical staff, a dedicated theatre team, breast care nurses and secretarial staff.  

We run one-stop symptomatic clinics and oncoplastic clinics, and offer a full range of breast surgery techniques, including specialised breast reconstruction with implants and local pedicled flaps for volume replacement following lumpectomy. We were one of five UK pilot sites introducing the use of Magseed localisation for screen detected cancers.

The majority of surgery including mastectomies and breast reconstructions are undertaken as day case procedures in our dedicated Day Surgery Unit.

Patients requiring more complex microsurgical free flap reconstructions are referred to our NNUH plastic surgery colleagues who run joint clinics with us at the James Paget University Hospital.

The Breast Surgery Unit has strong links with the University of East Anglia, and our surgeons are involved in leading and delivering specialist courses including the Master’s degree in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery (MS), which is the highest international qualification available in this field. 

How can I contact the department?

Breast Care Nursing team: 01493 452447

Broadland Suite: 01493 452111

Breast Imaging department: 01493 452885

Oncology secretaries: 01493 453705

Surgical secretaries: 01493 453680 or 01493 452236

Key services:

• Breast Care team
• Breast Unit Consultant Staff
• Breast Care Nurse Specialists
• Breast Oncology and Research
• Breast Imaging

Leaflets about Breast Care

For Breast care leaflets click here and then click on the "Breast Unit" tab.

You may also find the information here on breast lumps and benign (not cancer) breast conditions, including information on breast pain, useful.  

For GPs; information on gynaecomastia can be found here. 

The JPUH breast team at the regional Cancer Alliance conference at Duxford, where Associate Professor Sue Down and Professor Jerome Pereira gave presentations, and our unit was commended for having the shortest waiting time for initial appointments in the region.