Skip to content

Mobile X-ray trial 'saves hundreds of bed days'

BBC A mobile X-ray kit has been set up in a large grey room. A man and a woman are in the room wearing dark blue medical scrubs. The man, in the foreground, who has short grey hair, a beard, and glasses, is holding an X-ray imaging panel. In the background, a woman with long hair tied back is working on a laptop. An imaging device is mounted on a tripod in the room.BBC
The service helps keep older patients out of hospital

A mobile X-ray machine in Devon has saved 700 bed days in three months, according to hospital staff.

The service, which is being trialled at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, helps keep older patients out of hospital, freeing up ambulances and beds, managers said.

It meant if someone had a suspected fracture, they could be X-rayed in their own home, they added.

The mobile service was initially trialled in Cornwall, before being rolled out in Devon, where it is being operated for 12 months.

In 2024, before service implementation, about 2,000 patients over the age of 55 attended Derriford's Emergency Department and were found not to have suffered a fracture.

Nearly 1,300 of those patients came by ambulance, with 1,000 further admitted into the hospital.

The University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust said it had received overwhelmingly positive feedback from care homes and patients in their own homes over the mobile device's use.

A picture of Sheila and her carer Diane Kehoe. Sheila is wearing a purple cardigan and has grey hair and glasses.
The NHS Trust said it had received positive feedback, including from Sheila and her carer Diane Kehoe

Sheila, who is 90 and lives in a care home in Devon, had a fall. However, there was no need for an ambulance as the X-ray machine came to her and they "did it on the day", she said.

Care home manager Diane Kehoe said it was a brilliant service.

She said: "She just had a call out of the blue saying: 'We're going to send the X-ray to you.'

"I'd not even heard of this.

"Along they came X-ray, rang me back an hour later and confirmed it was a fracture [which was later treated].

"It's all very quick, it's amazing and has made a huge difference to Sheila herself."

Follow BBC Devon on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].

More on this story
Related internet links