Patients are having to be re-routed 7 or more miles to Wigan or Wrightington's hospitals because Leigh Infirmary's MRI scanner has broken down
A major problem with Leigh Infirmary’s multi-million-pound MRI scanner means patients in the east of the borough are having to travel to other hospitals for the foreseeable future.
Wigan Today was contacted by an older patient from the town saying that she had received a message saying that her Leigh appointment was having to be cancelled due the scanner there being broken and that she would have to make arrangements to go to Wigan Infirmary eight miles away or Wrightington Hospital 13 miles from the town.
She said she had been told by a paramedic friend that the machine – which performs scans of human bones and organs – isn’t on the blink but because of issues over paying someone to operate it.
But Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust say the matter has nothing to do with staffing or pay and that engineers are working on the magnetic resonance imaging scanner to get it working again as soon as possible so that normal service to patients in the Leigh area can resume.
They have apologised for the inconvenience.
WWL chief operating officer Sarah Brennan said: “Due to an issue with the cooling and electrical systems of the MRI scanner at Leigh Infirmary, activity related to the use of this equipment is in the process of being transferred.
“As a temporary measure, appointments to Leigh Infirmary will be expedited to an alternative location at Claire House, Ince, which allows us to keep those appointments within our locality.
“Further additional capacity has been created at Wrightington Hospital and Wigan Infirmary, and all affected patients have been contacted by telephone to rearrange their appointments.
"Any patients affected from the week commencing December 8 are being contacted by post.
"We apologise to all patients concerned and thank them for their understanding.
“The service suspension has no connection to pay control measures or workplace disputes.”
Leigh Infirmary’s Community Diagnostic Centre opened two years ago as part of a national programme to increase the access to key diagnostic tests and increase capacity to a variety of procedures including MRI, CT, X-ray. ultrasound, electrocardiogram (ECG/ECHO) heart monitoring tests/scans, blood pressure and heart monitoring, lung function, sleep studies and phlebotomy.