State-of-the-art cardiac monitors will be among key equipment provided through the appeal for Airedale Hospital’s new Emerg-ency Department.

The devices – not believed to be in use at any other UK hospital – will enable staff to review patient information, including oxygen saturation, blood pressure and heart rate, with a single piece of equipment.

The monitors are portable, so can travel with patients needing CT scans or x-rays.

A&E senior charge nurse, Richard Rees-Jones, said the innovative equipment would be a huge boon to the hospital.

He added: “Our A&E consultant, Meg Crossley, was invited to Paris to see first hand the advantages of the cardiac monitors, and how they will make a real enhancement to our patients.

“We will be able to view the output from the monitor on a large overhead screen, and information can be monitored even when we are not in the same place as the patient, as it will all be networked to a central system.

“When the sickest patients arrive in our department and go straight to resus, we will be able to assess them in a much more effective way than we can with the existing equipment, and that will enhance their care.”

He said numerous donations had already been made towards the monitors, for which he was extremely grateful.

Also on the appeal ‘wish-list’ are wall-mounted ophthalmoscopes and auroscopes, which because of their small size, are currently easy to misplace or damage.

“Having the equipment attached to the treatment area walls will enable medical staff to have immediate access to it and the patient can be treated quicker,” added Mr Rees-Jones.

“It is such a simple, low-cost solution but, unfortunately, one that cannot be met through NHS funds.”

Other resources earmarked are dimming wall lights in the treatment bays, providing a more relaxing environment for patients, and children’s distraction walls to help reduce anxiety for youngsters during assessment and treatment.