Exceeding expectations, together
Mobile MRI
The challenge
As an established and trusted diagnostic provider for North West London, Hillingdon Hospital Foundation Trust reached out to Healthshare in September 2021, seeking support to expand the capacity of MRI services. We were able to offer some capacity at our Community Diagnostic Centre in Brentford, however, due to magnitude of the waiting list, an additional solution was needed.
For a prompt response, we agreed that a mobile diagnostic unit would be the best solution. We were asked if we could mobilise it and start scanning patients within just three weeks.
Here at Healthshare, we never shy away from a challenge.
What we did
With just three weeks to turn this around, the experienced Healthshare team sprung into action. A site visit was arranged to check feasibility, safety and delivery arrangements.
Meanwhile, planning went on behind the scenes to ensure clinical synergy between the Healthshare teams and those of the trust. Key things to cover included agreeing clinical protocols and escalation processes and working with the estates team to ensure site adherence to fire regulations and a safe delivery method for the unit.
The relocatable unit was delivered overnight to minimise disruption to a very busy hospital site. The Healthshare team spent two days assembling the van, providing access ramps and working on the site adjacent to the van to provide a temporary sheltered waiting area for patients.
The results
We successfully mobilised the mobile diagnostic unit within the three week lead time.
The unit is running seven days per week, twelve hours per day delivering approximately two hundred scans per week to support THH to reduce the backlog of scans that built over the course of the pandemic.
Tina Benson, COO at The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust added, “We really appreciate the work that Healthshare have put in to get the scanner up and running in super quick time. Both teams have worked hard and it is wonderful to see patients going through. This expansion in our MRI capacity on site will allow us to reduce our wait times without compromising on quality care. This is a great example of partnership working across NW London.”