Medical Physics and Engineering

The Department is a business unit hosted within the Trust’s Oncology Clinical Support Unit and has a wide-ranging matrix working role. The Business Management and Administration section has two sub-sections: Service and Business Management, and Administration.

Service and Business Management

The Service and Business Management section is led by a Service Manager who provides management services which are designed to lead, plan, measure, monitor and control Medical Physics and Engineering business activities, ensuring they are aligned to the organisation’s purpose and strategic direction. The aim is to ensure our services meet operational, financial, regulatory and legal requirements in order to deliver the organisation’s goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. In addition the Service Manager also leads on the provision of service agreements and contracts to external customers and organisations both within the NHS, Academia and to our commercial customers. 

With an ongoing focus in the department on improvement, this section leads on the delivery of the department’s ‘Service Improvement Programme’ and inter-dependent improvement work streams, and works hard to develop further commercial and non-commercial business. 

Working in partnership with scientific and technical colleagues, with clinical staff, service commissioners and users of our services, general management support is also provided for key service developments and service redesign and to ensure delivery of operational service targets. 

The section also manages the Trust’s Medical and Scientific Equipment Programme and the PFI Equipment Plan. In addition to the Service Manager the management team comprises of a Business & Equipment Contracts Manager who is responsible for operational management of the Managed Equipment Service (MES) contract within Bexley Wing at St James’s University Hospital.

The MES provides the large medical equipment, such as CT scanners and other large radiology systems, as well as linear accelerators.  

Administration

The administration team is led by the Department Service Manager and provides a complete comprehensive administrative and secretarial service to the department across four sites. This is along with patient administration support to Rehabilitation Engineering clinics at Chapel Allerton Hospital and to the Thyrotoxics patients seen at St James’s University Hospital. 

The administration team supports all our staff and Trust colleagues with general administrative tasks in line with Trust policies including the provision of logistics, procurement, patient administration, finance and human resource services.

The Clinical Engineering section is concerned with the application of engineering knowledge and medical technologies to support and advance patient care. Clinical Engineering customers are within the Trust and also in external organizations such as Primary Care Trusts, GP practices, NHS acute and community services and private healthcare providers. Clinical Engineering works to an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system.

Clinical Services and Rehabilitation Engineering

We offer specialist services in rehabilitation provided by clinical scientists and technologists.

• Gait analysis – We undertake specialist measurements of gait to support the treatments of mobility for adults and children who have particular medical conditions. This service is based at Chapel Allerton Hospital.

• Wheelchair and seating support – We provide technical support for people who require specialist wheelchairs and seating. We also advise the prosthetics and orthotics services in Leeds. This service is based at Seacroft Hospital.

• Functional electrical stimulation – We assess and provide electrical stimulators for people who have walking difficulties due to an upper motor neurone condition. We offer ongoing support to people who are using stimulators.

Medical Devices Risk and Governance

We provide assurance to patients, clinical colleagues and others on safety with medical devices.

• Risk management and governance – We ensure that medical devices in our Trust are suitable for their intended purpose, maintained, stored securely and used properly in line with legislation and regulatory guidelines.

• Medical device training – We provide training for clinical staff on medical devices and manage the device’s training information in our Trust. We use a Medical Devices Training Information System (MELVIS) for this purpose.

• Safety and lessons learned – We monitor safety and identify lessons learned when things go wrong with medical devices. We work with clinical educators and managers for this activity and liaise with regulatory bodies.

Medical Equipment Management

We provide equipment management and consultancy services within the Trust and to others.

• Evaluation of technology – We review medical equipment on the market to identify what our Trust requires to care for patients. We check devices before purchase to ensure statutory compliance, suitability for intended use and compatibility with other equipment.

• Installation and commissioning – We ensure that the correct process for the acceptance of medical devices is followed. Relevant safety tests and other checks are undertaken to demonstrate compliance with safety regulation and that the equipment is suitable for the intended purpose.

• Equipment loans and asset management – We loan out equipment from our libraries for episodes of patient care. We also track maintenance, repairs, alerts and recalls. We provide technical assessments of the status of our medical equipment and plan replacement programmes.

• Repair and maintenance services – This service is provided by highly skilled, trained clinical technologists based in workshops which are equipped with reliable, calibrated test equipment. We undertake repairs and maintenance work and also arrange for others to do that work.

• Renal technology service – The renal technology group supports renal dialysis within the Trust, in regional centres and also in the home environment. Technical support is central to each patient’s treatment as is the management of water plant.

• Contractor management – The contracts tea, procures maintenance and repair services from external suppliers on behalf of clinical teams. We negotiate terms, manage delivery and ensure compliance to appropriate standards. The team operates a helpdesk for reporting repair requests.

• Disposal management – Decommissioned devices are transferred to a Trust approved auctioneer or waste disposal agent in compliance with all national and legal requirements (WEEE regulations) for safe environmental disposal of devices.

The Computational Physics and Innovation section of the Department provides a range of specialist scientific services to the Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The team also undertakes a range of research and development projects in close collaboration with other departments in both the Trust and University of Leeds.

• Scientific computing
• Scientific computer system management
• Scientific support to the Trust dialysis programme
• Specialist physiological measurements

Research and development activity plays an important role in this section and activity centres on externally-funded, peer-reviewed projects in the fields of mathematical modelling, bioimpedance, vascular engineering, renal dialysis and decision support.

Staff within the section work closely with those in other sections of the Department and the wider Trust to develop and implement technological and innovative solutions to things that range from the need to improve existing departmental procedures through to the evaluation of  hi-tech medical devices and determination of the best way of making them work with the Trust’s infrastructure.

The renal scientists provide comprehensive professional scientific support to the Department of Renal Medicine based at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, and advance patient care in the wider renal community. They work within the renal multidisciplinary team to facilitate the identification of aspects of care where safety, outcomes and/or cost effectiveness can be improved, and to implement quality improvement initiatives. They also provide day-to-day advice on scientific aspects of renal care in general and individual cases, maintain and develop clinical decision aids, support research and audit projects and manage the data extraction required for the UK Renal Registry and NHS Blood and Transplant. As the only UK unit with this dedicated service, the renal scientists in Leeds are frequently asked to speak and organise hands-on workshops at conferences, and to participate in national and international quality initiative and educational projects.

Clinical Engineering works to an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system.

We provide diagnostic X-ray physics and engineering services, and radiation protection services to a range of NHS and non-NHS customers.

X-ray engineering section

This section is led by the Trust’s senior X-ray engineer and provides services mainly within the Trust. These services include:

• First line servicing on a range of X-ray equipment
• Support for computed radiography systems
• Support for PACS and other imaging networks
• Advice on X-ray equipment selection
• Input to the design of X-ray rooms
• Participation in new equipment evaluations and applications

Radiation protection

This section is led by a Consultant Clinical Scientist and provides services to a range of Trusts and to commercial partners. The services provided include:

• Radiation protection services and advice to NHS trusts and some non-NHS customers
• Liaison with statutory authorities
• Monitoring radioactive waste disposals
• Shielding calculation and input to the design of facilities
• Personal dosimetry
• Incident investigation
• X-ray physics services to the same range of customers
• Radiation protection and quality assurance checks
• Surveys of patient doses
• Coordination of physics and radiographer quality assurance programmes for the Yorkshire Breast Screening Service
• Services related to non-ionising radiation protection – laser, ultraviolet, and radiofrequency radiation
• Advice on laser protection
• Calibration of ultra-violet treatment cabinets
• Staff training
• Participation in academic teaching

Ultrasound physics

The Ultrasound group provides technical support and scientific advice to various clinical specialities, mainly Radiology and Cardiology, who use a variety of ultrasound systems. A regular quality assurance programme is undertaken on all major machines and a first line maintenance support service provided. The support is provided to all sites within the Trust and encompasses over 100 machines.

The section is involved in the continuous process of improvement in the efficient provision of its service commitment and in research and development through collaboration with many NHS and University Departments including Radiology, Cardiology and Oncology.

Our support includes providing scientific advice and experience in the implementation of routine investigations and research projects, maintaining quality assurance programmes for the equipment, advising on selection, installation and acceptance testing of new equipment, maintenance, calibration and repair. Direct patient services are delivered by the Bone & Body Composition Measurement group and by the Radionuclide Physics group through the administration of radiopharmaceuticals for therapeutic applications.

The section comprises of around 13 clinical scientists and three Technologists split into four functioning groups. The section also acts as host to clinical scientists undertaking the training schemes.

The Nuclear Medicine group gives scientific and technical support to the Nuclear Medicine service provided by the Department of Radiology at four sites within the Trust. Strong links are maintained with the Trust Radiation Protection Advisers in the provision of radiation protection advice and other matters relating to the use of unsealed radioactive materials. The group includes clinical scientists, and technical staff. The Trust has 10 gamma cameras and undertakes approximately 13,000 diagnostic investigations annually and over 300 therapeutic treatments. Myocardial perfusion imaging is exclusively performed by the Nuclear Cardiology department at LGI, using two dual headed gamma camera, with substantive hands-on support from the assigned medical physicists.

The MRI group gives scientific and technical support to the MRI Departments within the Department of Clinical Radiology at four sites within the Trust. It is actively involved in Research and Development projects in each area and is jointly in receipt of several large research grants. The clinical service is provided by four state-of-the-art MRI systems (two at the LGI, one at St James’s and one at Bexley) and an additional MRI system dedicated to Cardiac research at the LGI and an additional MRI system dedicated to Musculoskeletal at LMBRU in Chapel Allerton. The group includes clinical scientists and several research scientists employed by the University.

The Radiotherapy Physics section, based at The St James’s Institute of Oncology, provides scientific and technical support to the Radiotherapy Department within the Yorkshire Regional Centre for Cancer Treatment. There are around 20 physicists, 14 dosimetrists, and 20 technicians providing treatment planning, dosimetry, mould room, brachytherapy, treatment machine maintenance and quality assurance and computing. The treatment centre is a major radiotherapy centre serving a population of 2.7M and providing 5,500 new courses of treatment per annum. The facility within St James’s University Hospital includes 10 linear accelerators, and has two additional bunkers for research purposes.

There are three sections within Radiotherapy Physics, treatment planning and dosimetry, brachytherapy and radiotherapy technology, each led by a senior physicist. The treatment planning and brachytherapy sections together with radiotherapy are accredited under ISO 9001 whereas the radiotherapy technology section works under a separate externally audited, ISO 9002, quality system.

Cookridge Hospital was the first in the UK to offer brachytherapy treatment using I125 seeds for the treatment of prostate cancer. The brachytherapy section provided the physics input to this form of treatment and has been involved in training health professionals both within the UK and internationally.