Securi-Guard Monitoring is helping Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust keep their breast screening programme on course, thanks to state-of-the-art alarm and tracking devices which aim to deter vandals from breaking into mobile units.

Securi-Guard stepped in after staff learned how mobile breast screening units equipped with specialist X-Ray equipment were being targeted by vandals.

Two 45 foot trailers currently based in Liskeard and Plymouth city centre have now been fitted with hi-tech alarms and GPS tracking devices which will enable Securi-Guard to monitor and trace the unit in the event of a theft.

Pete Stanley, systems operating centre manager at Securi-Guard explained how it works. `The X-ray equipment in those units is worth thousands of pounds and this system enables us to monitor the unit as a whole. If any of the equipment is stolen or broken into, the GPS device sends a message to our central control room in Plymouth and we can pinpoint its location anywhere in the UK.

`When we heard how vandals had recently caused the units to be taken off the road after creating £1,000 worth of damage we wanted to help out and give something back to the community. We also contacted a company we work in partnership with, called Aeromark, which are based in Bedford and they agreed to install the GPS devices free of charge`. 

The mobile screening units are part of the national NHS breast screening programme which was established in 1988 and was the first of its kind in the world. So far, throughout the UK, 19 million women aged between 50 and 70 have been screened and 117,000 cancers detected. It is thought to save around 1,400 lives every year.

Diana Nicholson is the superintendent radiographer in charge of the breast cancer screening programme in the Plymouth area, she said, `We screen about 55 women every day using the mobile units so if they are out of action for even a day, it has a huge knock on effect on the programme as a whole. These units do save lives so we want them to be out in the community as much as possible`.

Alarm systems have also been fitted to allow NHS staff manning the units to covertly call for assistance from Securi-Guard if they feel threatened or intimidated.  Ms Nicholson continued, `The units are always manned by two radiographers at any one time for security reasons but it is an additional reassurance for staff to know that if they do feel at risk, they just have to press a button to alert Securi-Guard`s control room who will immediately send one of their own response teams or contact the police`.

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