Western Isles MRI project reaches design stage

A significant project that will bring transformative healthcare benefits to the Western Isles community has now reached a crucial design stage.

Following Scottish Government business case approval in 2023, the NHS Western Isles Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) project has progressed to the design specification stage, where a project team is focused on ensuring that the installation of the MRI scanner meets the highest standards for patient and staff care, safety, and operational efficiency.

On approval of funding for this project last year, work has been underway on planning and the detailed design and complex technical work required to develop a safe, compliant and high-quality MRI suite in Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway.

During this phase, our project team is working closely with specialist engineers, architects, and healthcare professionals to finalise the technical specifications and design layout of the MRI suite. Key considerations include ensuring accessibility, aligning the installation with existing hospital infrastructure and compliance with relevant standards and guidance.

Initial works identified unexpected potential challenges in terms of the hospital’s roof height as well as additional works needed to have the sufficient power supply to the MRI suite.

Whilst addressing these issues extended the original timeline, these steps have been critical to deliver a reliable and safe imaging service, and the challenges have now been resolved.

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson said: “We thought it was a key time to update our local community and staff on progress with this significant project. This project is a significant step forward in enhancing our local diagnostic services at Western Isles Hospital. The new MRI system will not only improve the quality of care we provide but also strengthen our capacity to serve our community with some of the latest developments in imaging technology. Whilst, due to the complexity of the project, our original timescales have had to be changed, we are delighted to confirm that the main challenges have now been resolved, paving the way for the next stages of this development.

“The project design team is now nearing completion of what is known as ‘RIBA Concept Design Stage 2’ which marks a critical step in the planning and design process. The MRI service is projected to be fully operational by early summer 2026, pending the successful completion of design, construction, and installation phases.”

Project Manager, Kathleen Macdonald added: “The work undertaken so far has been a complex and collaborative effort and beyond the local team, we have received support from NHS Highland, NHS Borders, NHS Shetland, National Procurement and Scottish Government and we would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work and ongoing commitment.”

Potential for further improvements  

A locally based MRI scanner 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.