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MRI scanner left out of action after routine service

MRI scanner left out of action after routine service

Friday 15 December 2023

MRI scanner left out of action after routine service

Friday 15 December 2023


Several patients had their appointments cancelled earlier this week after one of the General Hospital's MRI scanners stopped working.

The Health and Community Services Department confirmed that the scanner stopped working after having a planned service over the weekend.

However, it is now fully up and running again. 

All affected patients have been offered another appointment within the next two weeks. Express has asked how many individuals have been affected in total.

It comes as it was recently confirmed that MRI waits had been reduced from 54 weeks to seven in the space of three months.

Both of the General Hospital's MRI scanners have been running concurrently since September in an effort to reduce waiting times. 

mri_scanner.jpg

Pictured: The Hospital's second MRI scanner – which was previously acting as a back-up – is now in full operational use.

In September, patients had been waiting 54 weeks for a scan to be carried out – a situation described as "untenable" by Dr Zaman.

Consultant radiologist Dr Salman Zaman, who has worked in Jersey for more than a decade, explained that the rise in demand was due to improvements in healthcare and technology, which had in turn led to a 7% year-on-year rise in referrals for an MRI scan.

However, waiting times have now been cut to seven weeks, and are expected to be further reduced to six weeks before the end of the year.

This is because a second machine that was previously acting as a back-up is now in full operational following a £150,000 funding injection which has helped recruit three specialist locum employees, while paying existing staff to work overtime in what was described as a "two-pronged approach".

MRI_scanner.JPG

Pictured: Dr Salman Zaman is a consultant radiologist at the Hospital.

Each MRI scanner is capable of scanning around 150 patients per week – with a split of around 70% public patients and 30% private.

The department is planning to make permanent staff appointments to bolster the radiology team in 2024, while a business case has also been put forward to increase the scanners' capacity, so they can be used 24 hours a day.

READ MORE...

MRI wait times slashed in "win-win" for private and public patients

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