New £3.6m gamma camera unit to be built at hospital

12 February 2024

A unit is being built at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to house a new gamma camera which will increase capacity for cancer scanning and reduce waiting times for patients.

Work is progressing on the £3.6 million project and the unit is being built in Evolution Road on the hospital site, which is run by The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).

The new camera, which is used to detect cancer, paediatric conditions and other acute conditions, will be in use from this spring/summer (2024).

It will produce better quality images, improve turnaround times for issuing reports and reduce scanning times, which will enable more patients to be seen.

It is also hoped that the state-of-the-art equipment will attract staff with specialist skills and help with retention of the Trust’s workforce.

*A team of radiographers and an assistant practitioner specialising in Nuclear Medicine Radiography will work along the radiologist in the new unit, which is next to the Evolution Scanning Unit that houses a CT and an MRI scanner.

Dr John Jones, Medical Director at SaTH, said: “It is the largest single investment in Nuclear Medicine that Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin has seen historically and will ensure that this vital service remains local to our patients going forward.

“This is such an exciting project for our Trust which will bring huge benefits for our patients. The state-of-the-art camera will produce better quality images and reduce the amount of time it takes to scan a patient. It is another step in our drive to reduce the time our patients are waiting for scans.”

The investment in the new camera will complement the facilities offered at the new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), based at Hollinswood House, Stafford Park, Telford.

The CDC currently offers appointments for pathology (patient blood tests) and radiology, providing extra capacity for non-urgent diagnostic testing.

The Radiology department has so far seen more than 6,922 patients and more than 82,000 blood tests have also been carried out since October.