Only one in ten of women with breast cancer have access to reconstruction surgery at the time of their mastectomy, despite recommendations from NICE. These are the early findings of the National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit, published by the Royal College of Surgeons and the NHS Information Centre.
While this expansion in capacity shows flexibility, the audit concluded that there are a number of problems to be addressed. In particular, a fifth of English NHS Trusts that perform breast cancer surgery do not employ a consultant radiologist, pathologist or oncologist specialising in breast cancer diagnosis or treatment.
