Breast cancer survivor Jane Ansell has praised West Suffolk Hospital for their swift diagnosis which she believes prevented the disease from spreading further.

Jane spoke out last night as new figures revealed the detection rate for early stage cancers at West Suffolk Hospital are the best in the country.Data just published shows that 59% of cancers in the NHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area are diagnosed at stage one or two.

This figure is higher than anywhere else in England and is significantly above the national average of 41%, which means patients in the area have a better chance of survival and recovery.

In March last year, Jane found a lump in her breast and immediately visited her GP. Within a week, she was referred to West Suffolk where she was given a mammogram, ultrasound scan and biopsy.

On March 6, she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer and a fortnight later had started chemotherapy to shrink the tumour. In the October, she had the lump removed and was subsequently treated with radiotherapy and the put on the long-term drug treatment Tamoxifen.

Jane, from Great Cornard near Sudbury, was aged 47 at the time.

She said: “Because of my family history, I did check my breasts regularly and as soon as I found the lump, I went straight to the doctor and everything moved really swiftly from there.

“It was at stage two when it was discovered and had spread to my lymph nodes so if they had not treated it as quickly as they did, it could have spread somewhere else.

“I was given all of the possible treatments within a very short space of time and thankfully because of that, I have now been given the all clear.”