The Chief Scientific Officer for Scotland, Professor Catherine Ross, has visited NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde as part of Healthcare Science Week (10th-16th March).
Professor Ross was welcomed to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus by Karen Brazier, Healthcare Science Professional Lead.
During her tour, Professor Ross met a number of healthcare scientists who work across a range of specialisms to help provide world-leading care to people from the NHSGGC area, as well as highly specialised regional and national services for people throughout Scotland.
She visited the UK NEQAS Cardiac Markers Lab, where she met Clinical Scientist Dr Naomi Elkin. Dr Elkin described the critical work undertaken within the UK NEQAS laboratory to improve cardiac biomarker investigations for the benefit of patients across the UK and abroad.
Professor Ross then hosted an engagement event, where she was joined by Executive Nurse Director Professor Angela Wallace and 23 Healthcare Science professionals from across NHSGGC.
The group discussed strengthening the identity of the scientific workforce in Scotland, to widen understanding of the critical role they play within the NHS, and to help promote the many professions within Healthcare Science as positive career choices.
Healthcare Science is a significant professional group within the NHS, with 54 separate specialisms represented and, as the professional lead for all Healthcare Scientists, Professor Ross was keen to hear views and opinions of all those who attended the event.
Professor Ross rounded off her tour with a visit to the ‘Little Lab’ – an engagement event for young patients and visitors at the Royal Hospital for Children.
The lab was set up to promote healthcare science, with a range of activities on offer, including word searches, simple age-appropriate experiments and a demonstration of the work of the Maxillofacial Reconstruction Laboratory.
During her visit, Professor Ross tried her hand at some of the experiments and met seven-year-old Rose Moan, from Kilmarnock, helping her to complete a Healthcare Science-themed word search.
After the tour, Karen Brazier said: “The event at the QEUH campus was a huge success, and being able to show Professor Ross just some of the good work that’s being done by Healthcare Scientists within NHSGGC was a real pleasure.
“The round-table event was a hugely useful opportunity for our staff to have a meaningful input into planning the future direction of Healthcare Science.
“On behalf of NHSGGC, and my colleagues within Healthcare Science, I would like to thank her for the time she took to visit us, and to help us mark Healthcare Science Week.”
Healthcare Science Week is an annual week-long programme designed to promote and celebrate the amazing work of Healthcare Science professionals.
The aim is to raise awareness of the wide range of careers and roles within Healthcare Science, highlighting the difference they all make to patients’ lives.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is using the week to tell the public and other health professionals about the roles of its own Healthcare Scientists, and how science and technology is vital in modern patient care. It is also an invaluable opportunity for existing Healthcare Science staff to inspire the next generation by promoting the new career structures in local schools and colleges.