EMMA LEE A woman has jetted half-way across the world for treatment at a Norfolk hospital in one of the longest-distance referrals in NHS history.

EMMA LEE

A woman has jetted half-way across the world for treatment at a Norfolk hospital in one of the longest-distance referrals in NHS history.

Janette Vincent made the 16,000 mile round-trip from the Falkland Islands to the Breast Care Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn for the essential reassurance of a mammogram.

The islands have a tiny population of less than 10,000 and no dedicated breast care unit. Her journey involved a 16-hour flight, via Ascension Island, to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Mrs Vincent, who has happily been given the all-clear after her appointment last week, spoke exclusively to the EDP before setting off back home yesterday as we launch a special series to highlight the issue of breast cancer and its treatment in the county.

She said: “I think that most women want to be reassured as soon as possible that they do not have to have surgery. The treatment I received was second to none.”

Mrs Vincent, 49, moved to the Falklands 22 years ago and visits the UK just once or twice a year to stay with her parents who live at West Winch, on the outskirts of Lynn.

Her appointment is the QEH's furthest-ever patient referral of its type. A spokesman for the Department of Health said that they were unable to say whether she was in fact the furthest-travelled patient to a UK hospital.