The very first wrap of an MRI Scanner in the UK will have a profound impact on both patients and staff at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire – saving patients’ lives as well as thousands of pounds per patient for the hospital trust.
A new state-of-the-art scanner in the MRIS department has been wrapped with vinyl using a nature-based forest design – aimed at ‘bringing the outside in.’ In addition to the scanner, the walls of the scanner room have also been wrapped in a forest design, showing images of sunlight bursting through a forest and completely transforming the room.
The work was undertaken by Grosvenor Interiors, whose head office is based in Surrey, but was funded by the generosity of donors and supporters of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, whose supporters raise funds to help make the hospitals even better by funding cutting-edge research, innovations and high-tech equipment, above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide.
Work has completely transformed the scanner room as well as the GE 3.0 tesla MRI scanner, which is used as a showcase scanner for GE for other hospitals to come and visit, and was part of a bigger project to completely transform the MRIS department – with beautiful nature scenes adorning the walls and corridors of the waiting area as well as the changing rooms.
As well as the vinyl wraps, ACT supporters have also funded two £30,000 audio visual systems for two of the department’s three scanners, meaning that stressed patients arriving for a scan can now listen to music and watch videos whilst completing their scan.
Bruno Carmo, MRI Service Manager at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, said: “It has made a massive difference not just for the staff but for the patients too. Everybody who comes in to visit the department notices the environment immediately. It’s different, it’s beautiful and it’s friendly. It just fills my soul.”
The state-of-the-art GE scanner, which is equipped with cutting-edge AI technology, supports the department’s world-leading research. It is the department’s second scanner of its type, which improves diagnostic accuracy for conditions like cancer and musculoskeletal disorders.
Since the scanner went live at the end of July, the department has not seen any patients unable to go through with their scan – which Bruno said will ultimately save patients’ lives as well as thousands of pounds per patient in some cases.
“One of the big reasons for patients being unable to complete a scan is claustrophobia and anxiety and just the fact that we can see the impact of this nice calm environment already reduces the possibility of a patient having to be recalled for a second time.”
“Ensuring a patient completes their scan first time around can literally save hundreds of pounds, thousands in some cases. For instance, if you have a paediatric patient, someone who is between 2 and 12 years old, if they cannot go ahead with the scan they join a long waiting list to have the scan under general anaesthetic where it can cost thousands because you need to book the bed space as well as the General Anaesthetic and Theatre teams.”
Bruno said it was too early to gauge the true impact of the scanner at present but said in an earlier, three-month audit of patients, 90% of patients reported that being able to listen to music and watch videos helped them to complete their scan.
Paul White, Director of Communications and Impact at ACT, said: “Our amazing supporters at ACT have already helped transform numerous staff and patient waiting areas around Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie and continue to do so. Areas like the Oncology Department as well as the X-Ray waiting room where a lot of stressed patients and family members have to sit and wait.”
“It is really heartening to hear the huge impact this work is having on both patients and staff alike – not just in providing them with a nicer environment but also how these relatively small changes can go as far as saving patients’ lives as well as all the costs associated with being able to successfully scan a patient first time around.”
Ilse Patterson, Lead R&D MRI Radiographer at Addenbrooke’s, said being able to see scan results on a first visit effectively allows diagnosis and treatment or surgery to happen sooner, therefore helping to save patients’ lives in some cases.
The artwork on the wrap and within the department has also transformed her own day to day working life. “I have worked in a few hospitals and I think there is nothing worse than walking into a hospital that looks like a hospital and smells like a hospital, it’s just not pleasant. I was on holiday when the waiting area was transformed and when I returned to work, I was amazed. It definitely changes the mood for the patients.”
“With the old scanner, it was narrow, it was a bit dark in that room, it was a narrow bore (tunnel), it was quite old and it wasn’t very pleasant. I really didn’t enjoy putting patients in there. But now it’s new, it’s light, it’s bigger, it’s got lovely pictures. Just to be able to make it that little bit easier for the patients, in any way we can, is a really positive thing for us.”
Cath Mills, President of the British Association of MR Radiographers (BAMRR), said: “It’s great to see the amazing work at Addenbrooke’s that is helping to make their patients’ experience as positive as possible. The unique ‘one of a kind’ MRI scanner wrap is the first in the UK that we have seen at the British Association of MR Radiographers and we think it’s great!”
“The MR environment can be very daunting to patients, especially paediatrics and those who suffer with severe claustrophobia so it is so important that we do everything we can to help our patients to feel relaxed. MR departments provide as much information as possible prior to appointments to help their patients to prepare, and the clinical staff on scan day offer support to the patient to help them to feel relaxed during their scan. In the past few years manufacturers have made changes to scanner design which has resulted in modern scanners looking a lot less scary than they used to. It is great to see the work at Addenbrookes that has addressed another dimension in scanner design by the addition of the wrap.”
COLIN HORN'S STORY - MANAGING DIRECTOR OF GROSVENOR INTERIORS
Colin, whose company Grosvenor Interiors has been working with ACT for three years now, looking at ways to transform hospital space, has his own story behind how he got involved.
His son, Adam, was diagnosed with Leukaemia back in 2000 at just 15 years of age.
“He had it for seven years and was in and out of hospital before we lost him. He had to undergo extensive treatment along the way, including a bone marrow transplant, huge rounds of chemo, and lots of MRIs, CT scans and live X-Rays, so I’ve got a lot of experience of what it was like to be treated in hospital and it was obvious to me that the spaces he was in made a huge difference to how he felt.”
“Some spaces Adam went into, he would become more withdrawn or belligerent and in other spaces he was a lot happier going through them if they were decorated in a more age-appropriate way.”
Having started out working in people’s homes, on projects worth thousands of pounds, Colin said after losing Adam he felt the need to work in healthcare and for charities.
“It suddenly didn’t matter how much money we had any more. It was much more rewarding doing work in hospitals where you realise the work you are doing really does make a genuine difference to people whereas when you do a half a million pound kitchen for people, they cook a nice meal in it and that’s it. Now though, I could spend almost any amount, a couple of thousand pounds, and it can make a huge difference.”
“The NHS is not obliged to provide beautiful looking spaces but it is well known that the environment is very important to how people feel. Our aim is to calm spaces down and therefore calm the people within them down and as a consequence it reduces anxiety levels which prevents an anxiety response in the body and makes the whole process easier for patients being treated as well as for the staff looking after them.”
Colin’s company subscribes to a lot of research papers looking at the impact of environments on healthcare and has its own design department providing the images for the vinyl wraps.
Having seen the wrapped scanner at first hand, Colin said: “For me, it is always a really exciting moment because I am used to seeing it drawn on screen or on a piece of paper and imaging it and visualising it is never the same as seeing it in the flesh and the scanner was certainly much more impressive than I thought it would be and when I hear the reactions people have, that’s the thing that makes it all worthwhile.”
Colin was delighted to find out that the wrapped scanner was the first in the UK and said: “We are very grateful to Addenbrooke’s and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust for the opportunity to be involved in the wrapping of the scanner. It is something I have personally wanted to do from the get go after transitioning the business into healthcare and we would very much like to see as many diagnostic machines and scan spaces in hospitals up and down the country with enhanced environments.”
“There is nothing good that comes out of your child dying but realistically I wouldn’t be doing this if that hadn’t have happened. At times it was very hard to find a positive after Adam died but this is my positive. We have actively made a lot of difference to people’s lives.”
VICTORIA BLOOMFIELD, EXPENDITURE AND GIFTS PROJECTS MANAGER AT ADDENBROOKE'S CHARITABLE TRUST
Victoria works as the Expenditure and Gifts Projects Manager at ACT, helping to enhance spaces for staff and patients around the hospitals and managing the staff fund that ACT gives to the hospital each year for staff wellbeing.
With a background in Interior Design, Victoria has worked with Grosvenor Interiors for three years now through ACT, helping transform hospital space at Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie and also works part-time as a psychotherapist.
Explaining how a simple act of introducing nature-themed wraps around the hospital can have a huge impact on patients, Vic said: “Being in nature releases certain natural hormones in our bodies, such as Serotonin, so if patients are sitting in an environment that looks more natural it can only help with mindfulness because it triggers memories of the real thing.”
As well as the positive impact on patients, Victoria said staff are also benefitting from projects to bring ‘the outside in’ - in the form of nature-themed wraps around the two hospitals.
“Staff are constantly coming back to us to say that they love their new space and that they love coming to work now. Everyone we speak to talks about how it has transformed their working lives.”
