Northern Care Alliance invests £2.9m in new radiology equipment

The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group (NCA) has invested £2.9 million in new CT and mammography equipment for its radiology department in Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and North Manchester.

The NCA brings together five hospitals, specialist and acute services, a range of associated community services, and over 17,000 staff across Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

Patients who attend for a Computerised Tomography scan (CT scan) at The Royal Oldham Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury and at Rochdale Infirmary will all benefit from the recently installed modern CT scanners.

A CT scan combines a series of X-ray images taken from different angles around the body and uses computer processing to create cross-sectional images (slices) of the bones, blood vessels and soft tissues inside the body.  

CT scan images provide more-detailed information than plain X-rays and are used to diagnose disease or injury as well as to plan medical and surgical treatment.

In addition to this new investment in CT scanners, patients with breast problems attending breast clinics at The Royal Oldham Hospital and North Manchester General Hospital will now benefit from the recent installation of new state of the art mammography equipment.

The Breast Centres at both hospitals offer symptomatic breast imaging. Patients are normally referred to the clinics due to a breast lump, or because of another symptom such as ongoing pain or discharge.

Paul Barker, senior directorate manager for radiology and neurophysiology, at The Northern Care Alliance NHS Group said: “This significant investment in new CT and mammography equipment at our Oldham, Bury & Rochdale and North Manchester Care Organisations will make a huge difference to the quality of care patients attending our radiology and Breast Centres receive. Patients across the North East sector of Greater Manchester who attend our hospitals can now rest assured that our staff will be treating them with state-of-the-art technology.”

Both Fairfield General and Rochdale Infirmary have purchased the Aquilion Prime SP CT Scanner. The Royal Oldham has installed an Aquilion One Genesis CT Scanner. 

Both the Aquilion Prime SP CT Scanner and the Aquilion One Genesis CT Scanner are manufactured by Canon Medical and feature VISION optic filters and SEMAR (Single Energy Metal Artefact Reduction). 

SEMAR utilises a reconstruction technique to reduce metal artefact, improving visualisation of implants, supporting bone and the adjacent soft tissues for a clearer confident diagnosis.

VISION optic filters provide superior image quality with low radiation dose for every patient from pediatric to bariatric. 

Further to this, the Aquilion One Genesis CT Scanner has the capabilities to scan a heart in a single rotation allowing patients to have cardiac CT with higher heart rates. 

The North Manchester General has installed two Hologic Selenia 2 Dimensions 2D Mammography Systems with the Affirm stereotactic breast biopsy system. 

The Royal Oldham has installed a Hologic Selenia 2 Dimensions 2D Mammography System and a 3 Dimensions 3D Mammography System (otherwise known as a breast tomosynthesis system) again with the Affirm stereotactic breast biopsy system.

Tomosynthesis is an advanced form of mammography that uses a low-dose x-ray system and computer reconstruction to create three-dimensional images of the breasts. Breast tomosynthesis can aid in the early detection and diagnosis of breast disease and is particularly beneficial for women with dense breast tissue.