New MRI unit to deliver thousands of scans a year
A new relocatable MRI unit at Bodmin Community Hospital is now up and running.
The state-of-the-art unit is part of the recently completed community diagnostic centre. It is staffed by clinicians from Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and will be able to deliver around 7,000 scans a year.
The unit will help achieve our ongoing aim of more care closer to home. It will also support efforts to reduce the backlog in elective care left by the pandemic.
Steve Williamson, Chief executive of Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust explains how the unit will benefit patients:
"We recognise that receiving as much of the care they need closer to home is really important for our patients. It means less time travelling and less stress.
"Being able to provide a wide range of services from the community diagnostic centre here in Bodmin not only makes that possible, but also helps us to reduce waiting times and to relieve pressure on our main hospitals in Truro and Plymouth.
"It is an outstanding example of teams working together across our organisations to improve patient care."
A formal ribbon cutting was held on Monday 29 July. Steve and Debbie Richards, Chief Executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust led the event. They were joined by NHS colleagues and local councillors.
Debbie says this builds on the success of joint working. That includes the soon-to-be opened elective surgical hub in St Austell.
This is another really important milestone of our partnership with the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, but also the work that is being enabled by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board.
"It means that people in the Bodmin community and residents in north and east Cornwall will be able to access more diagnostics on their doorstep. It will also provide some additional capacity that means, as a system, we can continue to drive down waiting times across the county."
Funding for the £2.5m unit was secured by NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board.
"The new MRI unit is a welcome addition to the broad range of health and care services available at Bodmin. From the community diagnostic centre to the primary care hub.
"We are committed to caring where it matters. It is a delight to see this new service up and running. Well done to all the teams involved."
Kate Shields, Chief Executive of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board
The relocatable MRI unit will operate 363 days per year. It has already welcomed its first patients.