University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) has launched a pilot project delivering x-rays to patients in the community.

The project is aimed at supporting care close to home and reducing unnecessary patient admissions to the Emergency Department.

A car with a full X-Ray kit and staffed by specialist Radiographers and Imaging Healthcare Assistants, will be out and about in Plymouth and the surrounding areas to offer support to patients who have fallen at home or in other community settings.

Once the x-ray has been carried out, the hospital clinical team will be provided with the result and will then organise the correct management plan.

Anne Hicks, associate medical director for integrated care pathways said: “We’re really excited to get this service underway and know that it is the best thing for our patients who fall in the community.

"We are really pleased about what this service will offer from a patient perspective. Having had a fall or having injured yourself at home, and to then access the appropriate help, and get the diagnosis and the treatment plan in the comfort of your own home or community place of care – that’s what this service is all about.”

“Whilst the pilot is in its infancy, we are aiming for 3 to 5 patients a day. In turn, that is 3 to 5 more ambulances on the road each day, out in the community responding to emergencies. We do not have anything like this at the moment, so for patients, it means that they can avoid the additional processes they experience when admitted into hospital, and when they leave.”

According to statistics, last year, around 2,000 patients over the age of 55 attended the Emergency Department and were found not to have suffered a fracture. Nearly 1,300 of those patients came by ambulance with 1,000 further admitted into the hospital.