New way to detect metal in kids’ bodies

NHS Lanarkshire staff are helping children avoid having X- rays - by checking them with a metal detector instead.

The clever idea to find out if a patient has swallowed a metal object has been successfully tested at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie and it is hoped the initiative will now be introduced at Wishaw General Hospital.

A project assessing the benefits of the hand-held metal detector found it cut the percentage of patients needing X-rays from 80 per cent to 50.

Emergency department consultant Dr Fiona Hunter said: “Detectors had been used in some emergency departments and introducing it to Lanarkshire has been a great success.”