One of the first Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in England now benefits from a fixed MRI scanner after a delicate and specialist operation to crane in the 6,550kg diagnostic machine.
The CDC at Finchley Memorial Hospital has now helped more than 60,000 NHS patients across Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, and Islington to get quicker and more-local access to diagnostic scans and tests since first opening in 2021.
And this ambitious programme of work has rapidly grown from a single mobile CT scanner to a site which offers CT, MRI, ultrasound, phlebotomy, ophthalmology, cardiology, respiratory and microvascular tests.
In August 2022, the new fixed MRI scanner was installed in a custom-built MRI suite on the first floor.
It was craned in through the window of the building by specialist contractors in five sections.
The craning operation took five hours.
The Siemens team then assembled and tested the MRI scanner over the following two weeks.
The scanner was craned in through the window of the building by specialist contractors in five sections in an operation taking five hours
CDCs are being established across the UK to increase NHS diagnostic capacity by providing new facilities and equipment, training new staff, creating new partnerships and innovative ways of delivering healthcare, while reducing pressures on acute sites such as hospitals and helping to reduce the NHS backlog.
Over the next year, further works will take place at the site, including additional expansion of the MRI suite with a second fixed scanner, installation of a fixed CT scanner, development of X-ray services, and the expansion of respiratory services to include sleep testing.