Stafford Hospital to treat 6,000 per year with new MRI scanner
More than 6,000 patients a year will be able to be treated in Stafford when a new MRI scanner is brought in next week.
It is part of the takeover on Saturday of Stafford Hospital - with the site now being called the County Hospital.
The £1.2m machine, which will boost imaging facilities on the Weston Road site, is one of the improvements announced as part of the formation of the new University Hospitals of the North Midlands NHS Trust.
Currently patients in the town have to travel to Cannock or Stoke.
Clinical director of radiology, Ingrid Britton, said: "The patients who will benefit from this facility are patients who are currently being investigated for musculoskeletal, neurological, abdominal, gynaecology, urology and breast symptoms. Where previously they would have to travel, they can now access a subspecialist radiology opinion closer to home."
Dr Britton added there were also plans offer MRI scans in Stafford to detect breast cancer in young women who have a strong family history of the disease.
The MRI scanner will run from 8am until 6pm for five days a week initially with a view to progressing to longer days and a seven-day-a-week service, which is currently operational at Stoke.
Merging the two radiology teams working at Stoke and Stafford will create 'a stronger and more robust unit' and prevent the need to outsource elements of the team's work and hire locums to provide cover on site, bosses claim.
Andrea Clark, directorate manager for imaging, said: "A huge benefit of merging the teams is that we will be able to introduce sub-specialised reporting to the imaging department at Stafford. Where previously generalists would be reporting on a wide range of scans, we will be able to have, for instance, a neuro-radiologist reporting on a patient undergoing a neurology specialist examination."
