Making waves - Sutton Mayor cuts ribbon on new £500,000 Nuclear Medicine Department | News

The newly refurbished state-of-the-art Nuclear Medicine Imaging Centre at St Helier Hospital was declared officially last week by the Mayor of Sutton, Cllr. Muhammmed Sadiq.

The unit has undergone a complete transformation, increasing its size and freshening up the atmosphere. The extra space and funding allowed the team to purchase a specialist heart monitoring machine to perform cardiac stress tests, meaning patients no longer need to travel to the Royal Brompton to receive this important diagnostic test.

Dr James Marsh, Joint Medical Director, said: “Some incredible science goes on in our Nuclear Medicine Imaging Centre, and it allows our experts to look at the physiology of our patients rather than just anatomy – for example, their work can be as varied as looking at moving cells in the brain to diagnose Parkinson’s, to helping our Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU) staff identify particular infections in patients.

“Of course, protecting patients, visitors and staff from unnecessary exposure to radioactivity (however small a dose) is absolutely vital, and there are some key measures we have to take in order to do that – that includes separate toilets for those who have had their injection and those who haven’t (these are known as hot and cold restrooms, and they are decorated in vibrant red and blue respectively to send a clear signal to patients and visitors), different waiting rooms and lead-lined walls and windows.”

Mayor Councillor Sadiq Muhammed said: “I was absolutely delighted to join the Nuclear Medicine team at St Helier for the opening of their newly refurbished department. It’s great to see such fantastic healthcare services being made available to the people of Sutton. I am very impressed by what the team has done here, and would like to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication to supporting the health of Sutton residents.”

Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier, Daniel Elkeles said: “All of these fantastic changes would not have been possible if not for the hard work and dedication of our Nuclear Medicine Team. The team fought really hard to protect and expand their service, and the strength of the bond between them is clear to see. The team worked together to come up with an idea for their new look department, pitched it, and enabled it to become a reality. So I would like to say a huge thank you to them for all of their hard work and dedication to the department.”