17 March 2015
HEALTHCARE scientists from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are marking Healthcare Science Week (13 to 22 March) by showcasing the difference they make to patient care.
In a series of profiles to be posted on the Trust’s Facebook and social media accounts, healthcare science staff will reveal the amazing work and extraordinary innovations they support to deliver better services and outcomes for patients.
They will also be hosting information stands at the Northern General Hospital on Wednesday 18 March (Hunstman Main Entrance, 10am to 4pm, and Clocktower Dining Room 11am to 2pm) and at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital on Friday 20 March (B Floor Tower Block Main Entrance, 10am to 4pm, D Floor Coffee Lounge, 11am to 4pm).
Around 10% of the Trust’s staff is healthcare scientists, with jobs spanning across pathology, laboratory science, cardiac, gastrointestinal, respiratory, audiology and neurophysiology, as well as the Medical Physics disciplines involving radiation sciences, imaging, engineering and bioinformatics.
Healthcare scientists provide essential scientific expertise to support patient diagnosis, treatment and safety and are key innovators in the NHS, introducing new technologies to provide improvements in patient care. Roles vary massively, and can include lab-based testing, running clinics and testing scientific equipment to ensure results are accurate.
As well as helping to ensure the safe implementation of new technologies, they use their understanding of physics, chemistry and biology to provide a wide range of services to patients.
These include radiosurgery to deliver precisely targeted radiotherapy treatments, the use of electromagnetic radiation for diagnostic purposes, and complex analysis of information to enable personalized approaches to care, based on a deep understanding of the interplay between science and medicine. They also ensure all equipment is used safety, accurately, and complies with legislative requirements.
Professor Wendy Tindale, Scientific Director at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals said: “Healthcare Science Week is a great opportunity for us to celebrate the amazing work of all healthcare science staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is also a real chance for us to promote this specialism as a career option for young people. There are still a lot of myths about healthcare science as career, and with the support and resources of NHS Careers and the Academy for Healthcare Science, we are able to challenge these misconceptions.”
One myth is that healthcare scientists only work in labs, and they never see patients. But healthcare scientists run patient clinics to make specialised measurements, which feed back into forming a diagnosis. Meet Katherine Goude, for example, who is a clinical engineer at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. She works in visual electrophysiology (testing vision by measuring the electrical signals produced by the eyes and the brain) and gait analysis (measuring walking patterns to determine the impairments most likely to be causing the patient’s movement difficulties).
She said: “In visual electrophysiology the developments in computer displays mean that we can create ever more sophisticated visual stimuli for our tests. I will test my patient in clinic, typically spending around two hours with them. I discuss their symptoms, explain the tests and then fit electrodes to the patient and record the signals produced while they look at patterns or flashes of light. Afterwards I process the test results and write a report providing a clinical interpretation.
“In gait analysis I use specialist equipment to record the motion of reflective markers applied to the patient’s body and analyse the data to calculate the movement of the patient’s joints. Both clinics allow me to have patient contact which I really enjoy.”
Many jobs behind-the-scenes also make sure doctors have enough information to make the right diagnosis, and that patients are treated safely.
Giles Morrison is a Medical Physicist and Radiation Protection Adviser at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital: “We provide advice to many x-ray users, so the day is driven along by a stream of incoming requests. We try to provide advice which navigates between rigid regulatory compliance and enabling the delivery of clinical services.
“I see my role primarily to enable my colleagues to deliver healthcare services as effectively as possible. The best part of the day is whenever a clinical colleague lets us know that we’ve helped them provide patient care effectively.”
To find out more about a career in healthcare science visit the NHS Careers website, http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/healthcare-science/careers-in-healthcare-science/. Healthcare Science Week is run by the British Science Association. Look out for tweets on the Trust's Twitter account using the hashtag #hcsweek and messages on the Trust’s Facebook page.
ENDS
Photo: Giles Morrison, Head of Radiology Physics at the Trust
MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Blake, Communications Specialist
Tel: 0114 226 5033
Email: claudia.blake@sth.nhs.uk