Countless patients at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT) will benefit from a new piece of equipment made possible
thanks to the enormous £2m donation to the hospital’s charity ELHT&Me.
A portable ultrasound laptop, an advanced piece of essential equipment that helps identify a suitable vein for vascular access procedures, has been gifted to the Vascular Access Service at ELHT, thanks to the generous donation from The Kay Family Foundation.
The £2m, which was announced by the Trust in November 2025, has been distributed across numerous departments, enabling enhancements in patient care and cutting-edge technology that will have an impact for years to come.
It was gifted to the charity by the local foundation, that is dedicated to supporting charities to improve people’s health and wellbeing, the relief of hardship and promoting community activities and conservation for the benefit of the people of East Lancashire.
Vascular Access Lead Nurse, Joann Walmsley, said: “We are so unbelievably grateful for this new piece of equipment and want to thank the foundation from the bottom of our hearts.
“The portable ultrasound laptop is a natural step-up from the portable ultrasound tablet we have been using to enable us to see a suitable vein to insert the line.
“The deep veins at the top of the arm where we need to insert the needle can sometimes be difficult to locate but thanks to its superior functions and sharper features the laptop produces an accurate, clearer and brighter picture of the vein much quicker than before and makes the process more streamlined. It’s incredible and I know it’s going to help so many patients.”
The team of two administer a PICC line or midline into a patient’s arm for treatment such as chemotherapy, blood transfusion, TPN (liquid food), antibiotics and intravenous fluids (IV). The PICC line is a long, thin, flexible tube known as a catheter and it is inserted into one of the large veins of the upper arm and then threaded until the tip sits within a large vein just above the heart.
Vascular Access Nurse, Andrew Webber, added: “The new equipment shortens the procedure time as we find the vein in two thirds of the time which gives lots of benefits to the patient – and us.
“The level of safety and care to the patient is paramount, but the clearer picture enables a faster procedure which means we can treat more patients with the added bonus that some of those are able to return home with the line and potentially reduce their hospital stay.
“We also conduct the procedure at the bedside which can be done within an hour of the patient being referred, with the aim of no patient waiting longer than 24 hours. This not only saves on waiting times for a referral to another team but as most of our patients are very poorly, to be able to save them the unpleasantness of being pushed in their bed down a corridor to a different department is so much better for them.”
And another department, and more patients, within the Trust are also benefitting from this generous gift.
Joann explained: “The Acute Care Team administer cannulas to patients. This is a small, plastic tube put into a vein on the hand or arms to give fluids, nutrition or medicine, but when some veins are tricky to locate they need an ultrasound to help them find it so have always had to borrow one from another department.
“This meant delays in patient’s gaining treatment while they waited to borrow one – but now they have no need.
“So, thanks to The Kay Family Foundation, two departments, and all their patients, have benefited enormously from their wonderful gift.”
If you would like to support the hospital charity through a donation or organising a fundraising event, please visit www.elhtandme.co.uk