Meet our healthcare scientists - Day 2
11 March 2025
Healthcare Science Week runs from 10-16 March.
For today's profile meet Keith Scholfield, Senior Clinical Engineer who helps the NHS meet patients' needs by repairing and returning to service important medical devices.
Clinical engineering manage the maintenance and repair of a large volume of medical devices from flowmeters to CT scanners. I am focused on ultrasound and x-ray equipment and also manage the department's calibrated test equipment cross-city; this is the calibration of test devices such as manometers, oscilloscopes and electrical safety analysers
I already worked in a job repairing power tools and wanted to transfer my skills into a job which had greater career prospects, and was more rewarding. I got a job initially as a trainee clinical engineer and was supported by the Trust through manufacturer training courses and academic qualifications up to degree level.
There is no usual day in clinical engineering! I arrived this morning with a plan of catching up on things but there was a mobile X-ray machine which was out of action and required urgent attention. The day is always about trying to prioritise work based on clinical need. We do book in planned maintenance of systems but operational changes on the clinical side or responding to urgent faults mean we are constantly adapting.
The best thing about my job is the variety of work, the speed at which time can pass throughout the day, and the satisfaction of repairing and returning to service, important medical devices.
