Since its opening in June 2009 the state-of-the-art Queen Alexandra Hospital has sat proudly on the high slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking the historic Naval City of Portsmouth, England. The city, along with its football team, is nicknamed “Pompey” and is notable for its major Dockyard, as a base for the Royal Navy and for being the United Kingdom’s only Island City.

Whilst the city’s 'island' status may come as surprise to many outside the county of Hampshire, it will not be a surprise that this prestigious hospital has Major Trauma Unit status and is part of the national project to improve major trauma care. An important part of any emergency care department is the ability to provide high quality radiographic (X-ray) images to meet and to respond to the changing demands of the health professionals as they care for their patients.

In March 2012, to aid rapid radiographic imaging in the Emergency Room, at the bedside and in the Neonatal Care Unit, Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust appointed Gloucestershire-based Xograph Healthcare, a leading independent UK medical imaging equipment provider, to supply a number of new mobile digital X-ray systems. The Hospital already owned an earlier generation Xograph digital mobile, the MobileDaRt, which was purchased when the hospital first opened; this unit is now complimented by five younger siblings. The MobileDaRt Evolution incorporates the latest Canon CXDI-70C Wireless digital imaging detector and the unique Canon CXDI-80C Wireless small format detector both offering exceptional direct digital images within 3 seconds, at the point of care, so ensuring enhanced workflow and maximum versatility.

Nicola Sanchez, Advanced Practitioner Radiographer at Pompey’s Queen Alexandra Hospital, said: “The replacement of our mobile fleet required equipment that could travel the large distances required of our hospital, and provides almost instantaneous diagnostic images to our clinicians.  We also required versatility in imaging our wide range of patients including NICU. The DaRt evolution was the only unit that fulfilled all of these requirements. I cannot fault the customer support provided by Xograph Healthcare both pre- and post-purchase of our new fleet; it has been outstanding and I would definitely purchase from Xograph in the future.”

Paul Andrews, Commercial Manager for Xograph Healthcare said “I am very pleased that the Trust have again chosen Xograph as their preferred supplier for this additional mobile X-ray equipment. It is also comforting to know that a dedicated MobileDaRt Evolution with an incubator-sized detector is now available for use within the Neonatal Unit allowing Radiographers to present instant digital X-ray images for diagnosis immediately in the department by the attending clinicians whilst also ensuring minimal disturbance to the newborn with less resultant distress for the parents at this difficult time for their baby and family.”

Xograph Healthcare’s range of medical imaging products includes general, surgical, mobile, mammography and dental imaging equipment, as well as the latest healthcare IT and direct digital imaging solutions.

For more information about its medical imaging equipment, visit http://www.xograph.com/products-and-solutions/medical-imaging/ or call 01666 501501.