THE breast care nursing service at York Hospital has come up with a new way to support people when they are diagnosed with breast cancer - by providing a text message service.

Developed with the help of local patients, the breast cancer nurse specialists asked people how they would prefer to be contacted and how often. Text messaging rated highly with the patient to make contact when they felt they needed extra support.

Jackie Frazer, Macmillan Advanced Breast Cancer Nurse Specialist, said: "Being able to communicate easily with your specialist nurse is very important. Offering the text message option means that patients can contact us in confidence whenever they need support without having to wait for us to contact them or have an appointment.

“Text messages are not meant to replace face-to-face contact or telephone calls where more in-depth communication is appropriate but can provide an extra level of support. We have trialled the system for six months and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”