Nuffield Health opens new £1.6m diagnostics suite in York

A new £1.6 million diagnostics suite, which houses a state of the art static MRI scanner, has been officially opened by Nuffield Health CEO, Steve Gray, at an event today at Nuffield Health York Hospital on Haxby Road.

The ultra-advanced MRI scanner, which received its first patient on 11 January, allows Nuffield Health York Hospital to improve patient experience and offer increased accessibility while gaining excellent image quality.

The new facility on Haxby Road is home to the hospital’s full suite of diagnostic equipment - now under one roof - including Mammography, X-ray, Ultrasound scanning and, exclusively in the York area, Bone Densitometry (DXA).

Nuffield Health York Hospital’s Radiology Manager, Barbara Bargh explains how the new MRI scanner will benefit patients:"Patients previously accessed MRI scans through a mobile service operated by a third party which was available three days a week. Now permanently on-site, the MRI scanner can be accessed five days a week, giving patients more flexibility on booking appointments. Our new scanner gives an improved patient experience, offering more complex scans in a shorter timeframe as well as allowing greater clearance within the scanner itself, which is particularly important for patients who suffer from claustrophobia."

Matthew Lamb, Nuffield Health York Hospital's Director says: "This is a significant investment for the hospital and for people in York who either opt to pay for themselves for rapid access or are referred for MRI by their GPs. Effective, high quality imaging is extremely important for medical decision-making, helping to inform diagnosis and resulting treatment. With this investment, we ensure that patients can access services in-house, at greater speed, five days a week."

For more information about the new diagnostics suite, contact Nuffield Health York Hospital on 01904 715100 or www.nuffieldhealth.com/hospitals/york.

Last updated Tuesday 22 March 2016

First published on Thursday 3 March 2016