Ref. 31059-1IT'S not just doctors and nurses who keep the Great Western Hospital ticking.

There is also an army of medical staff who work behind the scenes to help make diagnoses and treat illnesses

Superintendent radiographer Amanda Cox is just one of them.

She says a new £500,000 CT scanner can check the entire body in seconds meaning waiting times will fall to two or three weeks when the norm around the country is three months.

She said: "The new scanner is excellent.

"It enables us to produce high quality pictures which the doctors can interpret."

The new scanner can be used for detecting everything from injuries to cancer.

It has the ability to display 3D images, which enables doctors to view an entire organ.

And students from Churchfields School had the chance to find out how the science they learn in the classroom is used in the real world during a tour of the microbiology department.

They were shown how chemistry and biology is used to examine tissue and other samples to make diagnoses and then help medical staff deliver treatments.

Venecia Fernandes, 15, who is studying for a science GNVQ. said: "I like science. It is very interesting and easy to learn."