Mayor of South Yorkshire visits Sheffield Children’s Hospital – opens new CT scanner 

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust welcomed Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard to Sheffield Children’s Hospital to showcase a number of the exciting developments that have taken place at the Trust over the last twelve months.  

As part of his visit, the mayor was able to learn all about the outstanding care that the Trust provides as a Major Trauma Centre. This included taking a walk on the brand-new helipad and even officially opening the new state-of-the-art Computed Tomography (CT) scanner at Sheffield Children’s Hospital. The scanner, the purchase of which was made possible by a £1.95 million investment from the Trust, will make sure that Sheffield Children’s can continue to deliver outstanding care for children and young people across South Yorkshire and beyond.

South Yorkshire’s Mayor and Chair of the Integrated Care Partnership, Oliver Coppard, said: “Children and families going through the worst moments in their lives, dealing with illness or trauma, deserve to get the best possible care. The new helipad and CT scanner at Sheffield Children’s Hospital will be game-changing for those young patients, whether they’re from South Yorkshire or further afield. They’ll receive much quicker and more effective care through this cutting-edge technology.  We need more of these patient-centred improvements across South Yorkshire.”

Sheffield Children’s is one of five paediatric major trauma centres (MTCs) across the UK. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all-year round, it is the only is the only MTC in South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire that receives children less than 16 years of age. As part of this offering, the Trust also provides a 24/7 emergency scanning service, and an elective outpatient CT service which is offered Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm.  

A CT scanner is a large piece of equipment with the ability to take pictures of the inside of the body, allowing radiologists and consultants to make diagnoses or investigate how well treatments are working. These scans are made possible by an x-ray tube within the scanner, which rotates around a patient whilst emitting narrow beams of x-ray radiation received by a detector placed opposite the tube. 

The new CT scanner at Sheffield Children’s, which can take an abdominal scan in less than a second, can take these photos safely at a rapid speed due to the inclusion of two x-ray tubes, as opposed to the usual one. This increased speed not only makes the process safer for patients, in that it reduces the need to be placed under general anaesthetic during the scan, but it can also create clearer images for consultants and radiographers who are delivering care.   

Helen McQuillan, Radiology Manager at Sheffield Children’s, was present at the event, and spoke about the importance of having this apparatus available for patients who are brought to Sheffield Children’s after experiencing a major trauma incident.  Helen said: “We’re thrilled that we now have this piece of technology available to us. This new scanner can scan a patient’s head in just three seconds, when in the past it might have taken up to one minute. Whilst these might both sound like a short amount of time, every second is priceless when delivering care to patients who visit Sheffield Children’s after having experienced major trauma.”  

The speed of the scanner is also key in reducing the anxiety of patients, especially those entering a scanner for the first time. As the process emits a lower dose of radiation, parents or carers can also be present in the room during scans if a patient requires their emotional support. The team has also made sure that the scanner even relays instructions using a friendly and familiar Yorkshire accent in an effort to make patients feel at ease.   

Helen said: “One thing that we’re really keen to explore is the ways in which this scanner can reduce the anxiety for patients around scans like this. Whilst the shortened time and reduced radiation dose means that there is less risk to the patient, we want to make sure that they feel as at ease as possible when going through the process. We can also dim the lights in the room and allow patients to choose a colour for the lights, which we hope will calm them for the duration of the scan.”  

As part of his visit, the mayor also had the opportunity to visit the brand-new helipad, which was made possible thanks to a £6 million fundraising campaign spearheaded by The Children’s Hospital Charity. The introduction of the helipad means that patients visiting Sheffield Children’s by air can land and be transferred anytime, with flood lighting that would be lit during take-offs and landings. The new helipad is also crucial to maintaining patient dignity, abolishing the need for helicopters to land in a nearby public park and for patients to be transferred across a busy road with the help of South Yorkshire Police.   

The addition of the new helipad in addition to the new CT scanner means that teams at Sheffield Children’s are now able to safely treat major trauma patients in a more efficient way and further improve outcomes for patients admitted by air.  

Helen said: “With the addition of the helipad alongside the new scanner, it means that patients can access the scanner faster than they would have done before. With the scanner also being a faster alternative to previous equipment, it means that we can safely treat major trauma patients even faster, which is very important in making sure that major trauma patients receive the best care possible whilst at Sheffield Children’s.”  

Ruth Brown, Chief Executive at Sheffield Children’s, added: “It was great to welcome the Mayor for South Yorkshire to Sheffield Children’s, and to tell him all about the outstanding care that teams across Sheffield Children’s deliver for patients who have experienced major trauma. As the only Major Trauma Centre in South Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire that receives children under 16 years of age, we’re very proud to be able to offer these services and are committed to offering a bespoke and holistic care package for every patient and family who are placed under our care.   

“The construction of our new helipad, alongside the opening of a new CT scanner only further demonstrates our commitment to building a healthier future for children and young people, and we can’t wait to continue working with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to make this a reality.”