Up on the roof at Ipswich Hospital new Breast Care Centre build

The ‘topping out’ is complete on a new multi-million Breast Care Centre under construction at Ipswich Hospital.

Teams have laid the final roof tile which marks a major milestone in the building project. Work now begins inside with the specialist NHS centre due to open for patients this winter.

The new facility will transform the experience patients have when they come to hospital by bringing all elements of breast care under one roof – the clinic, the imaging department and hospital breast screening.

Nick Hulme is Chief Executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), the organisation which runs Ipswich Hospital.

He said: “This new centre will transform hospital visits for breast care patients. The care our clinical teams give to patients is outstanding and now we can provide an environment to match.”

The number of patients needing breast care is on the rise but at Ipswich Hospital there isn’t a dedicated clinic. The breast care team shares clinic space with other clinical departments so it isn’t tailored to breast care.

The new centre will create this dedicated space and will also bring hospital breast screening and breast imaging under the same roof. Patients will no longer need to walk backwards and forwards between the departments as they do now, often needing to get dressed and undressed again and spend a long time in waiting rooms.

Paul Fenton, Director of Estates and Facilities at ESNEFT, said: “Topping out is a day to celebrate as we move ever closer to opening this new centre. The building will be fit to house state-of-the-art healthcare and will make a huge difference to our patients.”

The new centre, an investment of £5.3million, is a partnership between NHS funding from ESNEFT and a fundraising appeal called the Blossom Appeal by Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity. A fundraising abseil event at the hospital last month has raised a whopping £93,000.

The Breast Care Centre will in the central outpatients’ area of the hospital.

Blossom Appeal

The Breast Care Centre at Ipswich Hospital fully opened to patients after the final two services moved into the brand new state-of-the-art unit in late January 2023. However, we are still three-hundred thousand pounds away from the fundraising target and we need our community’s support to reach it. Everyone can make a difference and every penny counts, so please continue to support us if you can. The centre will be officially opened later in the spring.