Health Minister has formally opened a new MRI
scanner unit at Causeway Hospital.
The state-of-the-art scanner will enable the Northern Health
& Social Care Trust to increase its imaging capacity, meaning
patients will be able to benefit from reduced waiting times.
Until the opening of the scanner, inpatients at Causeway Hospital
who required an MRI scan had to be transferred to Antrim Area
Hospital and then returned.
The Minister said: “The expansion of MRI capacity to the
Causeway Hospital site will help increase patient flow and drive
down waiting lists, ultimately resulting in better outcomes for
all.
“Causeway Hospital has a very bright future ahead. The
Trust's Strategic Vision, published in March 2024, outlines its
commitment to maintaining a 24/7 Emergency Department at
Causeway, with further developments planned to ensure the
hospital can continue to serve its community and beyond, build
services and attract investment. I commend the Trust's work on
this, with a Strategic Development Board established to take
forward this agenda.
“Indeed, in the past year alone, there has been a number
of investments into the Causeway Hospital site, including £1.8m
for urgent and ambulatory care, £1.2m for solar energy and now
the enhancement of diagnostic services through the installation
of this new state-of-the-art scanner with an investment of
approximately £2m.”
Lynne McCartney, Interim Director for Surgery and Clinical
Services with the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, said:
“We have always been clear that Causeway is a key part of our
acute hospital network and that our ambition is to become an
elective and diagnostic hub for the northwest area. With the new
MRI now operational, we are a step closer to that goal.
“This is transformative for imaging services in our Trust and
will be hugely beneficial for patients and staff at the Causeway
Hospital and beyond.
“Before we had the new scanner on site, any patients being
treated at the Causeway Hospital that required an MRI had to be
transferred to Antrim. This investment allows us to eliminate
those transfers and helps us improve the overall service we can
provide to patients.
“With the addition of this newest scanner, the Trust now has
three MRI scanners across the Causeway and Antrim Hospital sites,
allowing us to increase our overall imaging capacity and provide
diagnostic scans to patients in a much timelier way, benefiting
patients across Northern Ireland.”
Notes to Editors:
- There were 655 patients transferred to Antrim Area Hospital
from Causeway for MRI scans in 2024/2025.
- The MRI unit at Causeway is part of the investment into the
Northern HSC Trust Rapid Diagnostic Centre (RDC).
