News

NHS Western Isles is delighted to announce that the process to plan for an MRI scanning service in the Western Isles has commenced, following approval of £2.4million capital funding by the Scottish Government.

Following an application to the Scottish Government, the required funding has been approved to enable NHS Western Isles to procure and install a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facility in the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway. Following procurement of an MRI scanner, installation and commissioning, it is anticipated, given the scale of work required, that the scanner will be in use as early as Autumn 2024.

There are currently no MRI facilities available in the Western Isles and up to 1,100 scans of Western Isles residents are being carried out at mainland hospitals each year. MRI scanning, a highly specialised technique, it is now a standard radiological tool for both emergency and planned care, and is the investigation of choice for many conditions that could soon be managed in the Western Isles with the introduction of this new service.

NHS Western Isles Medical Director, Dr Frank McAuley, said: “The reality of a MRI scanner based at Western Isles Hospital offers huge improvements in patient pathways, including those involving cancer or neurological conditions. Reduced reliance on mainland resources will impact on patient travel requirements, an issue causing an increased impact on all involved. Excellent news.”

Public Health Minister, Jenni Minto, said: “An MRI scanner for the Western Isles will ensure that patients are able to receive more diagnostic tests on the islands, and can therefore avoid travelling to the mainland. The scanner will also help clinical teams diagnose and treat the cause of patients’ symptoms faster and get them the care and treatment they need earlier.”

A locally based service will significantly reduce the annual figure of 1,060 patient journeys to the mainland for MRI scans and will improve continuity of care, meaning that many patients will have immediate access to an MRI scanning service without having to travel to the mainland.

The current combined annual costs related to MRI scanning, which takes into account contracts with other Health Boards for MRI scanning in addition to patient travel and expenses equates to around £999,000. The new service is expected to both provide an improved service and cost approximately £300,000 less than the current arrangement (total running costs for the new service will be in the region of £700,000).

In a joint statement, NHS Western Isles Chair, Gillian McCannon, and Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, said: “Having an MRI scanning service has been an aspiration of NHS Western Isles for many years and the fact that this funding has now been approved is wonderful news for our population. Introducing MRI scanning to our services will positively transform the patient experience, meaning that significant numbers of patients will no longer have to travel to the mainland and endure extended overnight stays for this important investigation. Having a scanner on-island will also help us to reduce diagnostic waiting times with the scanner available for planned and urgent care patients. In addition to the direct clinical management benefits we will also reduce travel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Looking to the future having this modern piece of equipment will help boost the recruitment and retention of clinical staff to the Western Isles; a vital step to ensure the sustainability of Western Isles services.”

Potential for further improvements

A locally based MRI scanner also has the potential to further transform and redesign additional patient pathways. Prostrate, gynaecology, cardiac and breast scanning will all be potential areas for improvement in the near future. MRI therefore has the potential to replace other imaging and investigation procedures to maximise patient care delivery in the Western Isles.

• ENT: increasing use in staging head and neck cancers avoiding the need for endoscopy / mainland travel;

• Cardiology: at present approximately 1000 Echocardiograms (ECHO) are carried out annually. MRI can be used to replace ECHO and provide extra detail such as that obtained by an angiogram. Having the ability to offer MRI will ensure consistency of service and the ability to replace multiple tests with a single test;

• Gastroenterology: the availability of a local MRI service will help to perform assessment of the liver, which at present is done using different procedures such as specialist ultrasound or a liver biopsy on the mainland, often involving an overnight stay. In addition, tests such as MRCP (imaging carried out on the mainland) involve at least 2 nights away. It is anticipated that volume will increase with local MRI provision;

• Breast: the most up to date guidance (highlights the recommendation that women in certain high risk categories should have MRI surveillance performed. MRI surveillance ensures that such women of are not exposed to multiple exposures of ionising radiation using traditional mammography. This would be new work over and above the current mammography screening programme.