University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust’s vascular service has successfully completed its integration onto one site with the relocation of services from the Leicester Royal Infirmary (LRI) to Glenfield Hospital.
The departmental move is part of a £13.2m major equipment upgrade provided through the trust’s vendor-independent Asteral Select contract.
The project formed part of a development plan that includes a state-of-the-art hybrid theatre facility that has been purpose built, as well as the re-location of a number of items of diagnostic imaging equipment.
The hybrid theatre consists of three ultra-modern pieces of equipment: a Siemens Axiom Artis Zeego; a GE Healthcare MacLab; and a Medrad Mark 7 Arterion injector.
The hybrid lab was a first for Asteral and as recognised by all suppliers, these modalities are the most-challenging projects to co-ordinate due to the high number of contractors and sub-contractors that need to be involved
These have enhanced the department’s ability to undertake increasingly-complex activity, have improved patient pathways, and are reducing clinical risk.
Ultimately, the project has assisted the clinical team to provide the most-comprehensive integrated vascular, cardiology and cardiac surgery services required to provide the best-possible care to patients who are suffering with cardiovascular illnesses.
Asteral provided complete project support for the redesign of the department, from design, through build, to equipment installation.
Mark McCarthy, consultant vascular surgeon and head of service at the trust, said: “This new investment in a hybrid theatre will enhance the care given to patients and will allow treatment of complex cardiovascular disease to be undertaken in a state-of-the-art operating theatre.”
Improving the patient experience with these advancements in technology; the new hybrid theatre facility also offers new training opportunities to the staff in the hospital, in particular for the imaging team, as this is the first hybrid imaging equipment within Leicester hospitals.
The new angiography suite has been designed to provide a tailor-made environment for the treatment and imaging of vascular patients.
The suite, which includes a Mallinckrodt Angiomat Illumena and a Toshiba Infinix, both transferred from LRI, has its own day-case unit, which enables the imaging team to provide more-patient-centred care.
The suite is also located close to the vascular ward, which will contribute towards improved collaboration with the imaging team.
The new vascular studies unit is based on Level 1 and offers a dedicated patient reception, waiting area, and two comfortable and spacious scanning rooms.
The relocation was planned to minimise downtime so as not to impact on the interventional service at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and be ready to meet the opening of the new service at the Glenfield Hospital
A GE Logiq S8 and a GE Logiq E9 were both relocated from LRI. The units are located adjacent to the vascular ward, angiography suite and MDT room, enabling rapid access for the assessment of vascular inpatients as well as patients admitted to the unit.
Overall, the move will improve workflow and facilitate collaborative working between departments involved in the care of vascular and cardiovascular patients.
Asteral’s implementation manager, Lloyd Stewart, said: “For the relocation, Asteral ensured that the original equipment manufacturers were fully engaged to assist with the design and construction phases.
“The relocation was planned to minimise downtime so as not to impact on the interventional service at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and be ready to meet the opening of the new service at the Glenfield Hospital.”
Asteral’s head of implementation and technology, Andy Jones, said: “The hybrid lab was a first for Asteral and as recognised by all suppliers, these modalities are the most-challenging projects to co-ordinate due to the high number of contractors and sub-contractors that need to be involved.
“With our support the trust selected Siemens as the main equipment supplier along with GE for the haemodynamic monitoring and Bayer/Medrad for the injector.
“Asteral’s main implementation task was to ensure all stakeholders had the required input through all phases of design and build while integrating key dates for the equipment delivery, installation and training programmes.”
Featured companies
- Companies:
- Siemens
- Althea Group
- University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
- GE Group