North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has taken delivery of the country’s first CT container solution, a move that will boost scanning capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The solution, from Siemens Healthineers in England, took just 15 days to set up and provides a separate scanning environment for non-COVID patients, enabling the trust to begin the return to a ‘new normal’.
With chest CT scans vital in the identification of viral pneumonia and tracking disease progression; CT plays a critical role in diagnosis and aiding clinical decision-making in the management of COVID-19 patients at the trust.
And to facilitate access to scanning resources throughout the NHS, Siemens Healthineers ramped up CT production, working closely with Lamboo Mobile Medical to source containers purpose-built for SOMATOM go. CT systems.
Previously championed by those involved in mobile lung screening initiatives, the SOMATOM go. series allows ultra-low dose imaging while the mobile workflow makes the CT container solution entirely self contained, eliminating the need for a control room.
Gail Griffiths, radiology operations manager at the trust, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic presented several challenges in carrying out routine examinations and it was important to maintain the highest levels of infection prevention control at every step of the patient pathway.
“Following the peak of the pandemic, we anticipate workload to return to a state closer to normality and the addition of the CT container solution from Siemens Healthineers provides us with an extra scanning resource.
“We now have additional capacity for routine examinations, while continuing to examine COVID-19 patients, enabling us to safely care for our patients and staff, while tackling any workflow pressures as they arise.”
Peter Harrison, managing director of Siemens Healthineers GB&I, adds: “Siemens Healthineers is committed to supporting our NHS customers with flexible solutions that work for their specific requirements.
“Thanks to a collective effort from teams across the business, we are pleased to see the first of several of these solutions now in situ, installed within 15 days, with the provision of remote applications training ideal for circumstances such as these.
“We are confident the solution will serve the trust in tackling the pressures caused by COVID-19, now and into the future.”