Breast cancer patients at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals can now access two new animations explaining radiotherapy treatment and breathing techniques.
Why it matters: The animations aim to improve patients' understanding of their treatment before they arrive at the radiotherapy department, helping them feel more informed and better prepared.
Breast cancer patients at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals can now access two new animations explaining radiotherapy treatment and breathing techniquesESNEFT
The first explains how radiotherapy treatment works and what to expect during appointments
The second focuses on the "deep inspiration breath hold" (DIBH) technique, used for patients with left breast cancer or right breast cancer affecting the internal mammary chain
How it works: The DIBH technique helps protect cardiac tissues during treatment.
Patients are coached to hold their breath for about 20 seconds
This breathing technique moves cardiac structures away from the treatment area
Patients can practice the technique at home before appointments
Treatment stops automatically if patients need to exhale within the timeframe
Alternative approaches are available for those unable to hold their breath
Tracy Cruttenden and Dannielle ThurlowESNEFT
What they're saying: Tracy Cruttenden, Macmillan advanced radiotherapy practitioner at Colchester Hospital, said: "We want patients to have a good understanding of their treatment and what it entails before they come to the radiotherapy department."
"We know it isn't always easy for those patients who are having this type of treatment to hold their breath for the required 20 seconds, so we hope the animation will be helpful to explain why it's important and how they can practise and prepare at home."
Rachel Laker, consultant radiographer at Ipswich Hospital, added: "Working on these animations has been a great opportunity for cross-site working between the whole of the ESNEFT breast radiotherapy team, allowing for the development of standardised services across the Trust."
Rachel Laker and Lisa MannESNEFT
For context: The project was developed with ESNEFT's Innovation Team and funded through Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity.
Mandy Jordan, associate director for charities and voluntary services at ESNEFT, said: "We hope these animations support patients with their understanding of radiotherapy before they come into hospital so they feel prepared for their treatment."
The bottom line: The animations are available to patients at both Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, with a short version of one animation available online. More information about breast cancer, including symptoms and treatment, can be found on the NHS website.
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The National Crime Agency's crackdown on high street businesses suspected of links to organised crime has made headlines in Shrewsbury but remains conspicuously absent in Ipswich, despite remarkably similar retail patterns.
A pattern emerging elsewhere
While Ipswich residents have yet to witness raids on local businesses, a stark scene is unfolding elsewhere: officers forcing their way into brightly-coloured barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops that have proliferated across town centres.
Last month, the National Crime Agency (NCA) coordinated 265 raids on such premises across England and Wales as part of Operation Machinize, targeting high street businesses suspected of being fronts for international crime gangs – but it remains unclear if Suffolk, or Ipswich, has been part of this operation.
Oliver Rouane-WilliamsIpswich.co.uk
Shrewsbury and Ipswich: towns with similar profiles
In Shrewsbury, a market town not dissimilar to Ipswich, officers detained two Kurdish asylum seekers during raids on barber shops, seizing thousands of pounds in cash and illicit vapes. The intelligence suggested these establishments were linked to money laundering, illegal immigration and drug dealing.
The parallels between Shrewsbury and Ipswich are difficult to ignore. Both are historic county towns with traditional market squares, and a mix of independent and chain retailers. Both have experienced the same influx of barber shops, vape stores, minimarts, candy stores and phone repair shops on their high street.
Yet while Shrewsbury has seen decisive action, Ipswich residents have yet to witness any comparable enforcement activity. At least not visibly. And if it has, it has yet to make any difference.
The Ipswich landscape
According to commercial property analysts Green Street, the average number of barbers per person in England and Wales has doubled in the past decade.
Walk through Ipswich town centre and the changing retail landscape is evident – multiple barber shops, vape outlets, phone repair shops and sweet shops often within yards of each other, typically with very few visible customers.
It is important to note that we are not suggesting any specific businesses in Ipswich are engaged in illegal activity. The presence of these shops alone does not indicate wrongdoing, and many could be legitimate businesses.
But questions should be asked. And questions are being asked – repeatedly – by residents.
The scale of the problem
The National Crime Agency estimates that £12 billion in illicit cash is laundered in the UK annually, with lots of it flowing through criminal front organisations on high streets.
These businesses appeared to surge as shop vacancies grew following the pandemic, creating opportunities for criminal gangs to establish themselves in plain sight.
The suspicious signs are easy to spot: businesses claiming implausible income levels, unpaid utility bills despite supposed high turnover, and the sale of illicit products like illegal vapes and tobacco.
In Greater Manchester, linked mini-marts were found to be staffed by asylum seekers, some working illegally, with hidden compartments concealing contraband.
What Operation Machinize uncovered
During Operation Machinize, authorities discovered cannabis farms, seized Class A drugs, arrested 35 people and questioned 55 suspected illegal immigrants. Three potential victims of modern slavery were identified. Bank accounts worth over £1 million were frozen and £40,000 in cash seized.
Detective Inspector Daniel Fenn, who led raids in Shrewsbury as part of the operation, said: "Members of the public are angry. They can see these fronts are there. The criminals feel they are hidden here. They think they can come to sleepy areas and won't be found."
The same could easily be said of Ipswich.
The pattern of exploitation is particularly concerning – the NCA believes some shops are used as fronts for drug-trafficking, people-smuggling, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation. In 2023, it secured the conviction of one Iranian Kurdish barber shop owner who was using his London premises as a base for smuggling 10,000 people to the UK in small boats.
Impact on legitimate businesses
Legitimate barbers are calling for a registration scheme and stricter regulation. Gareth Penn, chief executive of the Hair and Barber Council, highlighted how illegal barbers have led to fungal infections from improperly cleaned equipment.
More importantly, though, is the damage being done to genuine businesses that cannot compete with those avoiding costs and taxes, and those that cannot find suitable high street premises.
The damage is significant and potentially long-lasting.
Will Ipswich be next?
For Ipswich, the question now is whether Operation Machinize will visibly extend to Suffolk – or indeed, whether it already has without public knowledge.
Unlike local police forces, the National Crime Agency is exempt from Freedom of Information requests, making it impossible for journalists or the public to determine how many Ipswich businesses, if any, have been investigated.
This distinction is important.
While local police forces handle everyday law enforcement, the NCA was specifically created to tackle serious and organised crime that extends across police force boundaries, international borders, or requires specialist capabilities.
Their involvement signals that these high street businesses are not merely local issues but part of sophisticated criminal networks operating nationally and internationally.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis has stated that "high street crime undermines our security, our borders, and the confidence of our communities", promising "decisive action" to bring those responsible to justice.
The road ahead
There are concerns about the effectiveness of current measures. Of the 265 raids conducted, only 10 shops have been shut down permanently. Many businesses raided were back operating within minutes of officers leaving.
The challenge for authorities extends beyond individual shops to dismantling the organised crime networks behind them – networks that may have been profiting in plain sight for years on our high streets. While local police forces can target individual businesses, only the NCA has the mandate and resources to tackle the international networks behind them.
For Ipswich residents concerned about these issues, the prospect of action against suspicious businesses cannot come soon enough. However, due to the secretive nature of NCA operations, we may never know the full extent of their activities in our town – only their results, if and when they choose to make them public.
