My WiSH Charity has donated two bladder scanners to the cost of £20,000 to wards at the West Suffolk Hospital meaning faster results for patients and time saved for staff.

The local NHS charity worked with the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust staff on a Medical Improvement Project where ward staff were asked for ideas on how their wards could be improved.

Improvement project manager, Andrea Ballentine, was behind the project and said “We held an improvement event across the medical wards last year and we were delighted that My WiSH were keen to support this. We were thrilled to get so many ideas for improvement from our staff, many of these were ideas to improve patient experience. My WiSH have been instrumental in helping us to implement some of these ideas including purchasing these bladders scanners.”

The survey highlighted that, although scanners were available for all wards, staff had to locate an available scanner and bring it back to their ward and return it after use.

The two wards to benefit were the cardiac unit, located on the lower ground floor, and the stroke unit.

Stroke unit manager, Maria Musgrove, said: “The bladder scanner is used so frequently on the Stroke Unit. Having to send staff to other areas to borrow equipment is never ideal, it takes them away from providing patient care and can delay assessment and treatment.

“Having our own scanner available on the ward makes such a difference in carrying out prompt assessment of patients and therefore providing the appropriate treatment in a timely manner. Thank you so much to My WiSH for providing us with this equipment. It truly has made such a difference.”

Sally Daniels, fundraising manager for My WiSH, added: “This is just one of the projects that we will be working on with Andrea and the team. The improvement event has been fantastic at helping pinpoint areas that can be enhanced and that’s exactly what My WiSH does. We couldn’t do this though without donations, so we are truly grateful for the support we receive from the community”.