Health Minister formally opens new MRI scanner unit at Causeway Hospital

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt 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.”