Paediatric patients being treated in the Oak Centre for Children and Young People often need to receive treatment in the main areas of the hospital, including radiotherapy and imaging.
Occasionally, young patients are too ill to move out of their bed or need to remain in isolation. Thanks to funding from The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, a new mobile X-ray machine can now provide fast, reliable and high-quality imaging from the ease of patients’ beds.
Louise D'Costa, Superintendent Radiographer at The Royal Marsden said: “The new mobile X-ray machine has made a big difference for patients and the Diagnostic Radiology team. It means we can take quick action to perform X-ray imaging while the patient remains in their bed or sitting in a chair when they are unable to travel to the Radiology department.
“It is much lighter and easier to manoeuvre compared to other mobile X-ray units we have used in the past. It uploads high quality images immediately onto the screen, which means medical teams can get the results more efficiently.
The mobile X-ray equipment also has additional software features for better visualisation of lines and tubes in the child’s body can be seen on the X-ray without any increase to the radiation dose.
“The machine has two imaging plates attached, with a smaller plate specifically for paediatric patients to make the X-ray more comfortable for them when placed behind the patient. We were also keen to make the machine look as friendly as possible, so the team has decorated it with pretty stickers which the children have really enjoyed.”
Thanks to your support we are able to fund the latest equipment to enhance patients’ treatment and experience while in hospital.