BURY patients in need of MRI scans will soon no longer need to travel to Rochdale.
A new MRI scanner is being purchased for Fairfield Hospital as part of a £2M investment.
Bosses at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust made the decision at its last public board meeting, saying they recognised the need for a scanner.
Fairfield has been the only one of the trust's main four hospitals - the others are North Manchester, Royal Oldham, and Rochdale Infirmary - not to have a scanner.
It will mean patients, particularly those having suffered an acute stroke, will no longer have to travel to Rochdale Infirmary for a scan.
MRI scans help to identify the full extent of tissue damage following a stroke, and the purchase of the £1.2M scanner re-inforces the trust’s strategy for providing dedicated specialist stroke services at Fairfield Hospital.
Building work is scheduled to start in December this year, and be completed by March 2016. The scanner is expected to become operational in April.
Dr Khalil Kawafi, who works as a consultant physician at Fairfield, said: “A new MRI scanner is an essential piece of equipment for any successful stroke unit and this investment will allow us to make a quicker stroke diagnosis.
“It will also help us in diagnosing and managing stroke mimics.
“This will reduce the anxiety that patients feel waiting for a diagnosis to be made and it will reduce unnecessary ambulance journeys to Rochdale and overall cut length of stay for patients.
“This investment will ensure that stroke patient care will be enhanced and streamlined."
He added: “The trust is also an active recruiter to national and international research trials and having an MRI scanner on site at Fairfield Hospital will allow us to increase our portfolio of research studies.
“An MRI scan is the gold standard for investigating transient ischaemic attack (TIA) patients. The trust has around 15 TIA clinics a week and six of these are at Fairfield Hospital, so having an MRI scanner on site will ensure we are able to offer rapid access to MR scanning."
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