MP Rachel Gilmour at Minehead Hospital last year

Health & Wellbeing News West Somerset News

MP calls for temporary Minehead scanners to be made permanent

Paul JonesJanuary 23, 20260 Comment0

MP Rachel Gilmour (Lib Dem, Minehead & Tiverton) has called for a temporary CT scanner in Minehead to be made permanent.

In September last year, the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust announced it had installed MRI and CT scanners at Minehead Community Hospital while a new diagnostic centre is built in Bridgwater in a bid to cut waiting times.

The Bridgwater facility is due to be completed in the summer, and this week (January 19), MP Mrs Gilmour wrote to Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock to request a meeting to outline the benefits of making the CT scanner a permanent service.

She said since its installation, this service had provided “a new level of care in the West Somerset community” as part of the Government’s plans to invest in local NHS health services.

In her letter, Mrs Gilmour said the CT scanner had made a “huge difference” to local people, allowing for the early diagnosis of chronic illnesses, “to improve patient outcomes and reduce pressure on acute services”.

The Minehead representative also mentioned how transport connectivity and a disproportionately elderly population mean that “a permanent installation would save time, money, and potentially lives”.

The current contract for both the CT and MRI scanners is set finish on March 26, but could be extended up until May. However, Mrs Gilmour has written to the Minister to press for a CT scanner to become a permanent service locally.

She said: “I am aware of how much Minehead Community Hospital and the local community have benefitted from having a temporary CT scanner unit on site.

“West Somerset’s poor transport connectivity and large elderly population mean having these types of facilities locally is a game changer for making early diagnoses and improving patient outcomes.

“I look forward to hearing from the Minister to illustrate the benefits of making this CT scanner service permanent for the community here in and around Minehead.”

Announcing the scanners last September, a Somerset NHS spokesperson said the scanners would help “reduce waiting times” and make it “easier for people to get the scans they need”.

“The new scanners are open five days a week and will provide around 4,000 scans to people in Minehead and nearby areas,” they added.

“This temporary new service will not only enable us to reduce waiting times, but also transfer diagnostic appointments away from our large hospitals and closer to patients’ homes, improving accessibility and supporting the NHS 10 year plan shift of acute to community care.”