Bradford Royal Infirmary has increased its diagnostic imaging capacity and reorganised its suspected COVID-19 and normal imaging radiology workflow with the introduction of a Relocatable CT Scanner.
Rapidly deployed by Canon Medical Systems UK, the new temporary facility is located in a hospital car park between A&E and radiology.
“The Relocatable CT Scanner allows us to keep ‘Green’ patients (without suspected COVID-19) separate from Red (suspected COVID-19 patients), mirroring the cohorting we have on the wards,” explains Mark Kon, consultant thoracic radiologist and clinical director of radiology at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
“Although our teams of radiographers were divided into red and green at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they shared a common CT control room. Having an entirely-separate scan facility means there is much less risk of cross infection.”
He adds: “An additional and rapidly-installed CT scanner will also bring clear benefits of increasing our radiology capacity.
“We will be carrying out pre-operation chest scans to ensure our patients are COVID-19 free before undergoing major surgery, and the scanner may also be useful in the recovery phase when we start to catch-up with the patient imaging workload that has been put on hold during April and May.”
The scanner features an Aquilion PRIME CT and includes a control room and small changing/storage area. It is designed with the correct clinical flooring, hospital grade heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) requirements, plus datalink connectivity.
Ian Watson, director of commercial solutions at Canon Medical Systems UK, said: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK has meant that we have needed to be rapid and flexible in our response.
“Our Relocatable CT Scanners are designed for just that - to be rapidly deployed on the back of a lorry, and to work outside of hospital buildings when capacity pressures demand.”
