Up to 20 patients a week avoid trip to NDDH
THE Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust is launching a new ultrasound service to be delivered from Torrington Community Hospital from 15 July 2014.
The launch is part of the continued work to look at how the hospital can be used differently in order to make health services more accessible for people in and around Torrington.
Ultrasound is a diagnostic tool that was currently only available to Northern Devon residents at North Devon District Hospital in Barnstaple.
The new service will save up to 20 patients a week from having to make this journey to NDDH.
Ultrasound was identified as a very beneficial service to have at the hospital based on analysis of those residents from Great Torrington attending NDDH clinics.
Dr Chris Bowman, clinical director for community services for the Trust, said: “Throughout the engagement with the local community on the trial of home-based care we asked for ideas for new services to be brought to Torrington.
“Ultrasound was identified by the community as a really useful service to be accessible locally and the analysis of local health need proved there was sufficient demand for the service.”
Dr Alison Diamond, the Trust’s chief executive, said: “We have heard the calls from the community for more local services and have invested in the new equipment to save up to 20 people a week making the trip to NDDH for ultrasound.
“We are confident that the quality and access to local health and social care services for residents of Great Torrington is excellent.
“Over six months, our teams supported patients in their own home and avoided around 100 admissions to hospital.”
ULTRASOUND
An ultrasound scan is a procedure that uses high frequency sound waves to create an image of part of the inside of the body, such as the heart. As sound waves are used rather than radiation, the procedure is safe.
Ultrasound scans are commonly used during pregnancy to produce images of the baby in the womb. They can also be used to detect heart problems, examine other parts of the body such as the liver, kidneys and abdomen or help guide a surgeon performing some types of biopsy.