Hospital boosted by donation of new £40k monitors

Alex Blake
BBC News, Isle of Man
Manx Care A group of five people standing next to a black screen to the right with wires coming out of the bottom, in a hospital bedroom.Manx Care
The monitors were donated to Noble's Hospital's children's ward

Special new monitoring equipment has been donated to the children's ward at Noble's Hospital to improve patient care, thanks to a charitable trust.

The two telemetry machines will enable clinicians to monitor vital signs and other observations "regularly and continuously", bosses said.

At a cost of nearly £40,000, they were given to the ward by the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust.

Hospital business manager Jenny Davies said the monitors would "enable the professionals on duty to manage caseloads more efficiently, enhancing patient safety".

The machines can track various different signs including respiratory and pulse changes, which can identify any fast moving changes in patients' conditions.

The monitors are linked to the ward's central nurse's station, where children can be observed continuously on and off the ward on removable devices.

Double doors at the end of a corridor with "Welcome to the Children's Ward" written above them with an under the sea mural on the surrounding wall.
Staff on the ward will be able to monitor vital signs and other observations "regularly and continuously"

A Manx Care spokeswoman said they were "an essential requirement for patient assessment and the recognition of clinical deterioration".

She said it would allow its staff to focus on other duties without the need for "constant supervision" in a bedroom.

It would also give staff "the ability to manage cardiac patients on-island and increase the amount of beds that are visible at any one time", she added.

The trust behind the donation was founded by philanthropist Henry Bloom Noble in 1888 and today continues its aim to improve healthcare across the Isle of Man.

Its chairman Malcolm Clague said he was thrilled to help the children's ward, adding "Henry Bloom Noble himself would be proud".

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