Skip to main content

This site is best viewed with a modern browser. You appear to be using an old version of Internet Explorer.

Brand new X-ray equipment arrives at the Horton General Hospital

22/01/2019
This article is more than five years old.

State-of-the-art X-ray equipment is now in use in the Emergency Department at the Horton General Hospital.

The brand new equipment has recently been installed and there have been several improvements to the surrounding room, including new flooring, a new ceiling, new lighting, a new ventilation system, new X-ray doors with integrated warning signs and a complete redecoration.

The state-of-the-art equipment will improve image quality and reduce patient radiation dosage in comparison with the previous equipment. The new equipment can also automatically move itself between lying and standing patient positions - reducing the risks to staff from moving and handling the X-ray equipment manually around the room.

The equipment, which went live shortly before Christmas 2018, also makes life easier for patients. The wireless digital plates used to record images can be moved around the room, so patients can be scanned on trolleys where necessary, reducing the need to use a computed radiography system or to move immobilised patients on to the X-ray examination couch.

The improvements were funded as part of £3.2 million from the Department of Health and Social Care to upgrade wards and emergency departments. In September 2018, the Government announced that the NHS nationally was to receive £145m in emergency funding to make improvements.

Andrew Robinson, Radiology Manager at the Horton General Hospital, said: "We're really pleased that this new piece of equipment is up and running.

"The new machine takes fantastic quality images, and the fact that it can reposition itself makes things much easier for our staff. X-ray equipment is often heavy and cumbersome, but this new equipment moves automatically - improving conditions for our radiographers.

"Also, if a patient comes into our Emergency Department and needs an X-ray, if they're in a lot of pain or can't move very easily, we can use the new digital plate underneath their trolley and take an image from there.

"The X-ray room looks much better than it did before. It's lighter, fresher, more spacious, and a better place for patients and staff."