Sevenacres now has its very own vein-finder

A n Accuvein Scanner has been provided by the Friends for Afton Ward at the hospital’s Sevenacres site. Purchase of the scanner and stand, at a cost of £4,400, means that staff at Afton can, through clever infra-red technology, pick out those elusive veins just below the skin, so enabling them to more accurately insert needles into a vein. No longer need Sevenacres patients use such equipment in the nearby general hospital where, incidentally, a similar scanner was bought by the Friends four years ago for the Endoscopy Unit. Afton’s Staff Nurse Clayton Pope said, “It has been wonderful having this equipment, which can easily be transported about including to where patients undergo ECG treatment. “Elderly people often just don’t have good veins and other patients could have veins that have been damaged because of their life-style.” Staff Nurse Pope demonstrates the scanner to Friends volunteer Penny Benham.