University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust has taken delivery of a portfolio of medical imaging systems for its newly-opened hospital on the City General site.
Introduced as part of a 15-year Managed Equipment Service (MES) partnership with Siemens Healthcare, a total of 10 systems have been installed in addition to a variety of X-ray and ultrasound devices from other vendors.
Via the MES partnership, Siemens Healthcare will take care of the maintenance, provision and ongoing replacement of all imaging equipment for the life of the contract. The move will help to enhance diagnostics at the new hospital, which is due to be fully operationally by the autumn.
The Siemens equipment installed includesthree MRI systems - two MAGNETOM Skyra and one MAGNETOM Aera system; three CT systems - a SOMATOM Definition Flash and two SOMATOM Definition AS systems; two angiography systems - a single plane Artis zee floor-mounted system and an Artis zee biplane system; and a Symbia T TruePoint SPECT•CT.
“The MES partnership with Siemens has helped to bring together previously-disparate departments. We can be closer to the services that need us, improve patient flow, and enhance the quality of diagnostic imaging for those departments,” said Alice Turner, principal radiographer at the hospital.
“An example is the new CT system at the heart of the emergency department. We have been awarded Major Trauma Centre status partly due to the definitive care and rapid diagnosis we are now able to provide for patients with complex injuries.
A key benefit of the MES partnership is freedom of choice. In terms of equipment, we are not tied in to a vendor, we have the flexibility to choose the best on the market.”
Neil Mearns, Siemens’ MES operations manager for the north and west, added: “We are working very closely with the trust to guarantee provision of the latest medical equipment, simplify financial planning, provide regular maintenance, and a planned replacement programme. The partnership approach helps to ensure we are meeting the hospital’s needs now, during its development stages, and we will oversee all contractual responsibilities into the future so that clinicians are able to focus on providing the highest level of service to patients.”
