A piece of equipment known as a vein finder is being used for inpatients at Ysbyty Gwynedd in order to improve the experience for patients with hard-to-find veins.

Anyone who has difficult veins will know the discomfort when there are failed attempts to locate a vein, such as when having bloods taken.

Having noticed the need to improve the experience for patients with difficult veins, Junior Doctor Lois Williams secured a £3,000 grant from Health Education and Improvement Wales and around £600 from Menter Môn to purchase the equipment through the Trainees Transforming Training initiative.

Dr Williams said: “We’ve been very lucky to obtain a grant to purchase a vein finder and we hope this will empower nurses, phlebotomists, medical students and junior doctors to take blood and cannulate from patients who are difficult to obtain access.

“It works by infrared, which can bounce back and show us visibility of the vein which you cannot do with the naked eye.

“It also helps to reduce the time we need to attempt cannulating patients and how often we might need to cannulate them because of failed attempts, which can be quite distressing for some patients.

“Our hope is that this will improve the quality of patient care in the future.”

Dr Williams has been acknowledged for this project at the recent Junior Doctors Educational Development Time Conference and received first prize for the best oral presentation.

Dr Emyr Huws, Consultant Anaesthetist who mentored Dr Williams through this project, said: “Lois has worked extremely hard through this project and thoroughly deserves this recognition.

“She is an exceptional trainee doctor and has gone above and beyond in her role to improve patient and staff experience at Ysbyty Gwynedd.”

Anton Saayman, HEIW Medical Dean, said: “Through the Trainees Transforming Training initiative HEIW committed to developing and improving education and training across Wales, recognising the fundamental importance of involving doctors in training in identifying areas for improvement in their own training. 

“We are delighted to have been able to support this project and look forward to seeing it make a real difference to postgraduate medical education and training, and ultimately patient care.”