A mobile MRI scanner will be arriving at the Gilbert Bain Hospital on Friday morning (15 July).
A mobile MRI scanner will be arriving at the Gilbert Bain Hospital on Friday morning (15 July).
The scanner will leave Shetland on Saturday 23 July to head to The Balfour Hospital in Orkney.
With support from the Scottish Government, NHS Shetland and NHS Orkney, along with other health boards in the North of Scotland, will continue to benefit from the mobile scanner visiting on a rotational basis.
It is estimated that approximately 300 patients who live in Shetland will be able to access the local MRI service as an alternative to travelling to Aberdeen in 2022-23.
Kathleen Carolan, Director of Nursing and Acute Services, said: “I am really pleased that with additional Scottish Government funding, we have been able to work with other health boards in the North of Scotland to offer this new visiting MRI service. It means that whilst we procure our own MRI scanner, we will be able to provide the majority of scans locally and our radiographers will run the service which will help them to train and maintain their skills in the meantime.”
To allow safe access to the hospital site, parking restrictions will be in place on Cairnfield Road from Thursday evening (14 July) until after the scanner has entered the site.
The six disabled car parking spaces at the front of the hospital will be temporarily relocated to the opposite side of the car park whilst the scanner is in Shetland.
Vehicular access (except emergency vehicles) to the site may undergo slight delays on Friday morning whilst the scanner is being positioned.
On Friday morning, staff will be setting up the scanner to ensure it is ready for appointments later the same day.
Appointments will be taking place from 2pm until 5pm on Friday 15 July and 8am until 5pm between Monday 18 July and Friday 22 July.
Staff will be calling suitable patients on the 01595 743001 number in due course.
Unfortunately, for clinical reasons not all patients or examination types can be performed on the mobile scanner and we will let patients know if they still need to travel to Aberdeen to access a specialist service.