Further Faster breast reconstruction handbook

NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme's handbook to help NHS teams offer more breast reconstruction surgery to patients who choose it, helping to reduce long waiting lists. 

In a collaboration with Breast Cancer Now (BCN), the handbook identifies good practice and offers practical advice on how it can be rolled out to better ensure equitable access to breast reconstruction services across England. 

The handbook was developed in collaboration with colleagues across different organisations and by working with a BCN task and finish group. It highlights principles for several key areas of focus for breast reconstruction - shared decision-making, access to surgery, service organisation, surgical pathways, training and theatres – and provides checklists against which teams can assess their current practice.  

The handbook builds on the success of GIRFT’s Further Faster (FF) programme in outpatient elective care, applying the same methodology to breast reconstruction services, with a focus on reducing variation in care for patients in England and delivering equitable access to reduce long waiting lists. 

If you have an NHS email address, please also take the time to join GIRFT’s Future NHS workspace. You can request to join here. As a member you will have access to the full range of resources referred to in the handbook.