QE Gateshead Goes Fully Digital With Carestream

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, July 7—Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, known as QE Gateshead, is using new radiology equipment from Carestream to uphold its reputation for providing the highest levels of patient care. The Trust is in the final stages of installing three CARESTREAM DRX-Evolution Plus digital x-ray rooms , two DRX-Revolution mobile digital x-ray systems and a DRX Mobile retrofit kit . Once this work is completed, its Radiology department will reap the benefits of being fully digital both for its patients and staff.

Pictured (L-R): Jonathan Atkinson, Key Account Manager for Carestream, and for the Trust: Jill Robson, Senior Radiographer; Laura Shaw, Modality Lead in Plain Imaging, Theatres and Portables; Katie Kiely, Radiographer; Nicola Oliver, Radiographer; and David Hall, Assistant Practitioner.

Created in 2005, QE Gateshead was one of the first foundation trusts in the country. It has 3,400 members of staff and provides 580 hospital beds in a number of facilities in and around Gateshead. So far, two of the new DRX-Evolution Plus rooms from Carestream have been installed in the Trust’s main Radiology department. One of the two new DRX-Revolution mobile systems is being used in Critical care and the other for general wards. The DRX Mobile retrofit kit is being used in the special care baby unit.

 

All of the systems selected by QE Gateshead belong to Carestream’s DRX family of digital radiology systems. The same wireless detector can work seamlessly across each item of equipment in the DRX family, providing flexibility and scalability as well as outstanding image quality. The DRX-Evolution Plus x-ray rooms offer exam capabilities ranging from manual to fully automated, with a wide range of vertical and horizontal movement. Recent developments include higher weight-capacity tables, enhanced paediatric capabilities and an extended tube-column range. The easy-to-manoeuvre DRX-Revolution mobile systems can be used to capture fast, high-quality images wherever these are needed, and the mobile retrofit kit enables existing equipment to be converted to DR quickly and cost effectively.

According to Elaine Dickson, Radiology Services Lead at the Trust, ‘This equipment was chosen because it met the current needs of the Department and because of the excellent image quality possible. Staff have found the new technology very easy to switch to, and this has been supported by our having the same technology in multiple rooms and as mobile units. The new equipment is also ergonomically superior to previous equipment we used, which was another significant reason for choosing it.’

Elaine adds that going fully digital with Carestream is bringing key benefits for the hospital’s patients: ‘The Trust is now able to offer a more timely service to patients and has been able to achieve local KPIs consistently by reducing waiting times.’

The Trust has been particularly pleased with how well the switch over to the new systems has been managed. Elaine comments: ‘The installation of the equipment went very smoothly thanks to the excellent communication from the Carestream team. Every aspect from the project management, applications training, installation, and so on, was handled and executed professionally and expertly. Since installation the support has also continued to be excellent.’