The Burgos Primary Care Mammography Unit has modified the protocol for detecting breast cancer in order to make it more agile. Once the patients undergo the control mammography (which is convened by letter to all women over 45 years of age), two possibilities open up: that the results are normal, in which case it is not necessary to carry out any subsequent study ; or that the image obtained raises doubts that must be resolved by means of a new test. Until now, all these patients were referred to Gynecology, which, in turn, made an appointment for an ultrasound in the Radiology service.
With the new circuit, launched since the end of April, the process is streamlined, since that ultrasound appointment will be made directly, and only those cases in which a consultation prior to that test is deemed necessary will be cited in Gynecology. In this way, waiting times are shortened in a process that usually causes concern to patients.
In a document that is delivered after the mammography is done, the three possibilities and the actions that derive from each of them are explained: normal result (in which case nothing else needs to be done), appointment in Radiology (to perform an ultrasound that expand on the information obtained in the mammography) or appointment in Gynecology (to make a consultation prior to the ultrasound).
It should be remembered that breast cancer screening is a Public Health program that, thanks to early detection, considerably improves the survival of affected patients.
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