Screening

WellSouth facilitates and promotes screening, working with partners to provide screening services to the community. 

Breast Screening




Free breast screening for eligible wahine aged 45 to 69 or are 70 to 74 and those who qualify for the screening age extension is provided by the national breast screening programme, BreastScreen Aotearoa.  Wahine will automatically be sent and invitation to enrol or book an appointment from BreastScreen Aotearoa.

WellSouth has a contract from BreastScreen Aotearoa Services, through BreastScreen South and BreastScreen Otago Southland, to improve breast screening access and outcomes for Māori and Pacific Island women. Read more about our work here.

The aim of breast screening is to find very small cancers before a lump can be felt in the breast. Early treatment has the best chance of success.

  • Breast cancer is the most common cancer in New Zealand women.

  • The risk of developing breast cancer increases with age.

  • Three-quarters of women who get it are over 50. Breast cancer is uncommon in women under 50.

  • For older women, breast screening using mammography (breast x-rays) followed by appropriate treatment is the best way of reducing the chance of dying from breast cancer.


Your Breast Screening providers are located at:

  • Pacific Radiology Dunedin Central, Level 4/30 Great King Street, Dunedin

  • Pacific Radiology Dee Street, 2-10 Dee Street, Invercargill

  • Pacific Radiology, Kawarau Park, 24 Eleventh Avenue, Lake Hayes Estate, Queenstown


The mobile breast screen unit visits rural towns regularly. The timetable of visits is regularly updated.

For resources, please see Breast Screening Resources. 

 

Bowel screening

 

The National Bowel Screening Programme aims to save lives by finding bowel cancer at an early stage when it can often be successfully treated.

Bowel screening is offered every 2 years to eligible people aged 58 to 74 years across the country (will be lowered to aged 56 from Sept 2026). The FREE bowel screening test is sent directly to people and will find at least 7 out of 10 cancers that are present. Bowel cancer often has no symptoms.

The bowel screening test helps find bowel cancer early, when it can often be successfully treated. It can detect tiny traces of blood in your bowel motion (poo), which may be an early warning sign that something is wrong.

If you are eligible to take part, you will be sent:

·         an invitation letter

·         a consent form

·         a free bowel screening test kit, with instructions on how to use it.

The test can be done at home and is simple to do. Find out more at Doing the test.

For resources, please see Bowel Screening Resources.

HPV Cervical Screening

 

Cervical screening looks for the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes most cervical cancers. The National Cervical Screening Programme offers two options for how you have your screening sample taken for wahine aged 25 to 69 years old.

1. A vaginal swab means you will do a self-test at your screening appointment in private area behind a screen or in a bathroom, or a health professional can help. Some healthcare providers may offer a take-home option.

2. A cervical sample (previously known as a smear test) which is taken by a health professional.

By having regular screening (usually every 5 years) and being immunised against HPV, you can protect yourself against cervical cancer. This way you can stay healthy for yourself and your whānau.

For resources, please see Cervical Screening Resources.