Staff at Queenscourt Hospice in Southport are using a SonoSite’s NanoMaxx hand-carried ultrasound system to direct symptom-relieving treatments for a range of conditions.
Dr Karen Groves, a consultant in palliative medicine at the hospice, said: “Most of the people in our care are very frail, weak and fatigued and so we do not want to expose them to unnecessary investigations, treatments or hospital transfers. Ultrasound provides a non-invasive way to confirm suspected causes of discomfort – such as ascites or pleural effusions – and allows us to safely provide relief, and so we raised funds to purchase a point-of-care system with the help of our fundraising team.”
They chose the SonoSite system based on recommendations from radiologists at the neighbouring Southport and Formby District General Hospital.
Dr Groves said: “It is very straightforward to use, requiring few adjustments to get excellent images, and allowing us to quickly answer simple clinical questions which might otherwise have required a hospital appointment. It is also highly portable, allowing us to take it from bed to bed, or even to patients’ homes.”