Rockinghorse and TMBU staff celebrate the arrival of the Digital X-ray Machine.
We’re absolutely delighted to have unveiled a £100,000 Digital X-ray Machine for the Trevor Mann Baby Unit (TMBU) in Brighton.
Based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, the TMBU provides intensive care for sick and premature babies.
The brand-new Digital X-ray Machine is already revolutionising the way that small and premature babies can be treated by providing medical staff at the TMBU with an instant high-quality X-ray image in real time.
Since arriving on the unit at the end of September, the machine is already helping to significantly improve the overall experience of a preterm infant, who typically requires multiple X-rays to be taken during their admission.
Almost 600 babies a year are admitted to the TMBU and it’s not uncommon for a baby to need up to 30 X-rays during their stay on the unit. Using the traditional X-ray equipment meant that an image had to be processed once it was taken – causing an anxious wait for parents before it could be examined.
The Rockinghorse team are shown the innovative new Digital X-ray system.
Providing a better service
The new innovative Digital X-ray equipment is mobile and can be used at the bedside of a cot or incubator, with the images being processed straight away. The whole procedure is causing less distress to infants. Dr Ryan Watkins is the Consultant Neonatologist at the TMBU and explains more:
“The Digital X-ray Machine is a revolutionary piece of equipment that provides better quality images at a much lower dose of radiation. This is of critical importance to our newborn babies; some of them are really very small and are with us for a long time. Because of this, they will need lots of X-rays during their stay.
“In addition, the Digital X-ray Machine is able to give us an image the moment an X-ray is taken. This means that there is no delay in waiting for them to come back to us – in an emergency situation this is crucial. The machine also helps us to identify the exact position of the lines that we need to place inside premature babies for intravenous nutrition and medication.
“All of this helps us to provide a much better service for our babies, which we hope they will benefit from for the whole of their lifetime. We are so grateful to the Rockinghorse team who raised over £100,000 to purchase our new state-of-the-art equipment.”
Click on the video below to hear more from Dr Ryan Watkins…
A legacy for Dr Trevor Mann
Ryan Heal, Chief Executive of Rockinghorse, adds: “I have witnessed first-hand what an incredible bit of kit the Digital X-ray Machine is and how it is having a vital impact in the way medical staff can treat their tiny patients.
“We are so proud to have raised the £100,000 needed to fund the equipment in its entirety. I’m sure this is something that Dr Trevor Mann himself – who founded our charity back in 1967 – would also be very proud of. It’s wonderful to be able to keep his legacy alive in this way.”
Rockinghorse is a vital supporter of the TMBU, which is named after Dr Trevor Mann, who is our charity’s founder. The unit is one of the top neonatal centres in the UK and offers world-leading treatment for premature and sick newborn babies, dramatically improving survival rates.
We work closely with the TMBU team to support them and help ensure the very best possible standard of care for many years to come. We do this by raising funds for vital equipment to assist with their life-saving work and ongoing developments in neonatal care.
To find out how you can support us this Christmas, please click here.
