King’s College London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are working together to improve access to new medical technologies and accelerate their adoption across healthcare.
A new agreement has supported the purchase of a cardiac Photon-Counting CT scanner, which will be located at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
The partnership has already supported investment in advanced imaging equipment, including state-of-the-art PET scanners which have doubled clinical capacity and helped reduce waiting lists across a region covering south London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
The scanner will provide higher-detail imaging for patients undergoing cardiac investigations, while data generated through its use will also support medical research at King’s College London.
Photon-Counting CT is a newer form of CT imaging that can produce higher-resolution images and provide additional information through multi-energy imaging.
A £2.3m National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) capital award was previously used by King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ to install a Siemens Healthineers NAEOTOM Alpha.Peak Photon Counting CT scanner at Royal Brompton Hospital.
The Royal Brompton scanner is being used for both patient care and cardiac and respiratory research, with clinicians reporting that the technology can improve image quality at the same or, in some cases, lower radiation doses than conventional CT.
Establishment of a joint Academic Committee
The latest agreement is part of a wider approach to joint investment between universities and NHS organisations.
The three organisations have established a joint Academic Committee, bringing together senior finance and clinical leaders to oversee funding flows, identify opportunities for joint investment and address organisational barriers to collaboration.
The approach comes as NHS organisations face increasing pressure to adopt new diagnostic and treatment technologies while managing capital constraints and competing investment priorities.
Increasing number of PET scanners
King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ have also expanded their PET imaging capacity.
The partnership now operates two total-body PET/CT scanners, with the additional capacity supporting both routine clinical imaging and research.
The PET Centre currently receives more than 6,000 patients a year and provides clinical PET services alongside research across areas including oncology, neurology, psychiatry and cardiology.
