Hi BCC team,
I recently had a rebalancing reduction following being left very wonky after breast cancer treatment and came onto to forum this eve to write a positive post intending to assist anyone contemplating such an op.
Instead I came across the following thread in the surgery section of the forum:
Re: breast asymmetry correction surgery funding withdrawn
I was shocked to hear that a number of women have been informed that they may not (or in some cases cannot) have such rebalancing surgery on the NHS. One lady said she had been informed there was a change of policy. I don’t want other women to miss out on the benefits of reduction/resymetrisation surgery I have been lucky enough to have.
Would it be possible for the BCC team to have a look into this, since clearly any change in policy would potentially affect thousands of women. If there is a change in policy I think it worthy of a campaign.
Grateful if you could provide an update once you have had a chance to look into.
Thank you
Seabreeze
Hello Seabreeze
Thank you for your message which has been passed to us here in the clinical team.
We are hearing that some women are not able to access surgery to their unaffected breast in order to achieve symmetry (contralateral symmetrisation surgery) and it has previously been bought to the attention of our policy and campaigns team. Your comments have also been passed on to them.
It appears that some areas are offering this and some are not. We know for some women this is an essential part of their recovery and to be refused it can be devastating. Rather than a policy change it appears to be down to funding.
It might be of interest to know that the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have issued updated draft guidance regarding the management of primary and locally advanced breast cancer. Breast Cancer Care (along with other organisations) have been asked for comments. As contralateral symmetry surgery is not mentioned we have questioned this in our feedback. The final guidelines are expected around July of this year.
We are also considering including something in a future Vita publication to raise awareness of this problem. We also ask people to help us campaign and raise awareness through our Breast Cancer Voices.
If you would like to talk this through or have any further comments, please feel free to call us. We often find we can help people more by speaking to them on the phone. Your call will be confidential and the number is free from UK landlines and all mobile networks. You can call us here Monday to Saturday from 9am. On Wednesdays we are open until 7pm, other weekdays it’s 5pm and on Saturdays we are open until 1pm. Out of hours you can leave a message and we will call you back when we next open.
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Kind regards
Jane
Breast Cancer Care Nurse
Breast Cancer Care
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