Identification of factors that influence the decision to take chemoprevention in patients with a significant family history of breast cancer: results from a patient questionnaire survey.

Purpose: Chemoprevention reduces the risk of developing breast cancer in women with increased family history (FH) risk of breast cancer. However, chemoprevention uptake remains low and the reasons for this remain unclear.

Methods: Patients with moderate- or high-risk FH of breast cancer were counselled about chemoprevention (n = 1620; September 2015 to July 2018) in breast clinics.

Audit of routine preoperative blood test requests for patients undergoing elective breast surgery: Less is more.

In 2016, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence updated guidelines on preoperative blood tests for elective surgery; with failure of adherence having implications for both patients and healthcare providers. A local audit was performed on 919 patients undergoing elective breast surgery that determined compliance and the financial implications of performing inappropriate preoperative blood tests against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline. Initial findings of an unacceptable quantity of inappropriate blood tests led to the education of the pre-assessment clinic staff regarding the guidelines along with the development of a poster to guide the ordering of appropriate tests.