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Radiology department marks 50 years of advancement

Bea Swallow
BBC News, Somerset
Getty Images A female radiologist with long brown hair, wearing blue hospital scrubs. She is looking at a brain scan image on a computer screen on the desk in front of her. In the background, behind a glass screen, a patient wearing a white hospital gown is lying on a MRI bed about to undergo a scan.Getty Images
Staff at the Royal United Hospital in Bath have seen "significant changes" unfold in modern medicine

A hospital is celebrating the medical advancements made by its radiology department as it marks 50 years since it first opened.

More than 90% of patients who attend the Royal United Hospital (RUH) in Bath, Somerset, will visit the radiology department for X-rays, CT scans or MRIs.

Radiographer Kathy Thomas has worked there since it opened and has witnessed "significant changes" unfold in modern medicine and technology.

Scans have now progressed from black-and-white film to high-resolution 3D digital images, enabling staff to spot small abnormalities and cancerous tumours.

Medical advancements

The department has seven modern MRI and CT scanners as well as X-ray and ultrasound facilities and a PET-CT scanner, used in the detection and diagnosis of cancer and dementia.

But even three decades ago, film negatives were painstakingly analysed by holding them up against light boxes.

"It feels like an awfully long time ago, and things have changed dramatically," said Ms Thomas.

RUH Bath Kathy Thomas wearing blue hospital scrubs and a yellow name tag. She has white hair which is cut just above her jawline, and is smiling at the camera. She is standing in a radiology room at RUH Bath surrounded by medical equipment.RUH Bath
Ms Thomas has been working part time on the NHS staff bank for the last decade

"X-ray films were much more difficult to handle and had to be processed, which sometimes didn't work. Someone's chest X-ray might be lost at the bottom of a tank.

"Those things don't happen now. Technology has made a huge difference, and things are much easier," she explained.

RUH Bath A cement NHS sign outside the RUH in Bath. It is surrounded by bright green grass, blooming daffodils, manicured bushes and several trees. In the background you can see the hospital, a large white building with lots of windows. RUH Bath
The RUH continues to invest in its radiology department, making it one of the most modern and best equipped in the south west

Sarah Bond, operational lead radiographer, says the department sees more than a 1,000 patients a day, operating seven days a week.

"It has grown massively, tripling in services and staff size over the 30 years I've been here," she said.

"A CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis would take 30 minutes to complete. Nowadays, it takes just 30 seconds.

"Radiology at the RUH is really quite special," she added.

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