The specialist breast clinics are located at the Manukau SuperClinic™ several times every week to assess a wide range of patients with breast symptoms. This is a "one stop " clinic where you can expect to be assessed by a surgeon, and have tests (e.g. mammogram and/or ultrasound scan) all on the same day.
The medical team includes surgeons, pathologists (doctors who specialise in diagnosing diseases by examining your tissue samples under a microscope), radiologists (doctors who read and understand your x-rays and other diagnostic imaging studies) and oncologists (doctors who specialise in diagnosing and treating cancer), as well as registrars (specialists in training). In addition, a key part of our team is the specialist breast nursing team led by our breast care nurses with special training and skills in this area. There are close links with the Middlemore Plastic and Reconstructive surgeons.
Due to a high number of referrals, clinic capacity and resource constraint, we are under significant pressure to see patients in our current target grading timeframes. Medium and low priority patients are waiting 4-6 weeks in most cases. If symptoms evolve during the waiting period (e.g. breast lump increasing in size), patients should see their GP for a re-assessment and GPs should update us so that priority can be re-assessed, as necessary.