Swansea’s new-build private hospital is set to become a centre for diagnostic excellence, with around £2 million being invested in state of the art equipment for the HMT Sancta Maria facility, which is on track to open its doors in 2020.
An MRI scanner, digital x-ray and a fluoroscopy unit will be on hand at the site, which will be built between Fabian Way, and Prince of Wales Dock, SA1. The investment is set to revolutionise diagnostics at the hospital – significantly speeding up the patient journey from diagnosis to results.
HMT Sancta Maria’s Hospital Director, Stuart Hammond says: “This investment in the new HMT Sancta Maria Hospital facilities is significant and it indicates our ambition and intention to become a centre of excellence in the vital area of diagnostics – and to become the leading hospital in this field in South West Wales. Typically a patient at the hospital can wait two weeks from initial scan to seeing a consultant to discuss results. Having this equipment onsite will shorten this significantly, to a matter of hours.
“HMT Sancta Maria is proud of the high quality treatment it gives to thousands of patients, in Swansea, and the move to the new facility near Fabian Way will allow us to continue to develop our offering, with a wider range of treatments and services on the cards. Being situated close to University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) will allow for a close working partnership with a view to developing training and skills, so this opens an exciting new chapter for healthcare in Swansea.”
Sean Keefe, imaging modality manager, from GE Healthcare, which is supplying the equipment, says: “We are delighted to supply some of our most modern equipment to HMT Sancta Maria’s new hospital, such as the SIGNA Artist, one of our most versatile and adaptable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines.
“MRI is a critical tool that is helping researchers and doctors better understand the human body non-invasively and the SIGNA Artist also has many features to help improve the patient experience. For example, one application can reduce scan time by 30-50% or increase spatial resolution depending on patient need. For claustrophobic or younger patients, reducing scan time makes a massive difference and also helps doctors acquire better images as patients are less likely to move as much.”
Sancta Maria, currently based in Swansea’s Uplands, is owned and operated by not-for-profit Healthcare Management Trust.