New MRI goes live at Cromer and District Hospital

A state-of-the-art MRI machine has gone live at Cromer and District Hospital as part of a £8m imaging equipment replacement programme.

A new Signa Artist was used for the first time on Monday 22 February after the hospital’s old MRI magnet was craned out of the building in November.

The development at Cromer and District Hospital will lead to improved quality of imaging and an enhanced experience for patients in the local area.

It is part of a £8m project to replace vital imaging equipment at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which will see the replacement of four MRI scanners and a CT scanner at the Trust. An additional CT scanner will also be added in the Radiology department at NNUH.

Shelley Johnston, Deputy Lead MRI Radiographer, said Cromer’s old MRI was more than ten years old and around 20 patients a day will be scanned using the new machine.

“It is a huge improvement in technology with more advanced imaging and offers a wider variety of examinations and diagnostic quality.

“It provides more space with a wide bore and an enhanced patient experience,” she said.

The scheme follows ‘Aged Assets’ government funding that was announced in 2019, as well as benefiting from Adapt and Adopt Covid-19 funding.

The project also continues at apace at NNUH with the arrival of a new CT scanner on Sunday 14 February and one of the old MRI was craned out of the building over the weekend.