Breast screening van moved due to parking issues at Townlands Memorial Hospital

WOMEN in the Henley area are having to travel to Reading for breast screening appointments due to parking issues at Townlands Memorial Hospital.

The mobile screening van, which is deployed by the West Berkshire Screening Service, had previously used the car park in York Road to see patients.

Women between the ages of 50 and 71, who are registered with a GP, are invited for the mammogram procedure to check for signs of cancer and other abnormalities.

The NHS estimates that regular screening saves 1,300 lives in the UK each year.

This year, women in Henley and the surrounding villages are being invited to breast screening appointments at Royal Berkshire Hospital.

The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust has said that “ongoing traffic and parking issues” outside Townlands has created difficulties to use the screening van.

It said that the unit has been temporarily relocated to Reading while it worked to identify a new suitable site in Henley.

Residents who have been called in for their appointments say they have faced journeys of up to an hour each way in heavy traffic and almost missed appointments.

Julie Barnett, 55, said both her mother and close friend were diagnosed with breast cancer from a routine screening appointment. She said she worried that women on the fence about using the service would be put off by the inconvenient journey.

Mrs Barnett said: “I was a bit dismayed when I got my letter saying I have got to trek into Reading.

“My mum was called in for a routine mammogram and it was picked up from that routine scan.

“I don’t like to think that people are being put off by the thought of going into Reading.

“We don’t want to put barriers in the way of women’s health and wellbeing and it’s an amazing thing to have to make us all go in for the scan.

“I’ve literally been walking around the village thinking, why can’t they use this space or that space, such as a school hall during half-term. It’s a shame, it’s a little barrier we could do without, isn’t it?”

Mrs Barnett, who lives in Peppard Common, had attended her two past screenings at Sonning Common Health Centre and at Townlands but was told that she now needed to go to Reading. She said despite leaving an hour to get to her appointment, rush hour traffic meant she made the appointment by a small margin.

Mrs Barnett said: “My appointment was at rush hour at 8.45am. I left an hour to get there, thinking I would get there quite soon.

“The traffic was so horrendous, I had quite a stressful journey thinking I wasn’t going to make it in time. I scraped into the appointment only because I was lucky to find a car park in the hospital car park.

“I appreciate it’s such a valuable service so I’m very grateful to be offered this and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, it just seemed a real shame having had it in Sonning Common.”

Alison Baillie, 58, said the journey to Reading particularly represented a barrier for older women and those with disabilities.

She said: “The trouble is that where it is, there are maybe two or three parking spaces outside the unit and that is it.

“We went to the multi-storey car park first and they had no spaces. My concern was if people that really needed it or the disabled, where on earth would they park? Or how would they get there for a start? That’s my concern.

“Sonning Common is quite remote and there are still older people that need to get to and from and it’s just really difficult.

“I feel sorry for the people who can’t get there. There must be hundreds of people who can’t get there or will be having to pay for a taxi there and back or not even turn up at all which is even worse.

“Some people probably won’t go for it and that’s dangerous and sad.”

Lou Cheriton, the assistant practice manager at the Hart Surgery in Henley, said the development was “disappointing” and the practice had asked the service to reconsider. She said: “It has been brought to our attention that the breast screening unit will not be coming to Townlands this year.

“We have reached out to the service and asked them to reconsider but have been told that unfortunately, owing to access issues, the breast screening unit will instead be located at the Royal Berks.

“Clearly this is going to be disappointing for our patients, and we understand the service is exploring several alternative locations for future visits to Henley.”

A spokesman for the trust said he was unable to comment on sites being explored for the service until it had reached an agreement.

Figures released by NHS Digital last month for the year 2024/25 found that three in 10 women had not taken up their offers for screening. The same figures revealed almost 20,000 women had cancers detected through screening, as the number of women attending screening appointments within six months of their first invitation grew by nearly 200,000 on the previous year.

Dr Harrison Carter, Director of Screening at NHS England, said: “It’s encouraging to see more women attending, especially those invited for the first time, because making screening a habit can help protect your health for years to come.”

“But we know there are a range of reasons why some women don’t come forward and there is much more still to do to support more women to access breast screening. If you receive an invitation, please don’t ignore it. It’s an appointment that could save your life.”