As reported in the Courier, Noble’s Hospital is to get a new diagnostic centre which will house the latest MRI and CT imaging technology. Julie Blackburn finds out how the Manx Diagnostic Imaging Centre will transform healthcare in the island.

One of the biggest buzz phrases in the medical world these days is ’precision medicine’.

It perfectly describes the idea of providing the right treatment at the right time for every patient. It’s treatment tailored to the patient rather than one-size-fits-all and it starts with a highly-specific diagnosis.

Consultant radiologist at Noble’s Hospital Dr Vanina Finocchi explained: ’We have, in radiology, machines from the simple x-ray, to ultrasound, to what we call the heavy machines which are the MRI and the CT scanners.

’The CT and MRI scanners are the machines that we actually use for the highest levels of diagnosis. They are what we call cross-sectional.’

The island’s current MRI was bought and installed when Noble’s Hospital was completed in 2003 and is due for replacement, as is the hospital’s CT scanner.

Dr Finocchi had an ambitious vision to buy, not just like-for-like replacements, but the very latest machines. These would not only future-proof the diagnostic service but together would form a cross sectional imaging centre that would rank with some of the best in the world.

Dr Finocchi has seen the first step in her vision becoming reality with the announcement that the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust is donating more than £1 million to provide the 3Tesla MRI scanner.

It’s so new and so advanced that only three hospitals in the UK currently have one.

The DHSC is paying for the building works that will be necessary to house the new machines in what will be known as the Manx Diagnostic imaging Centre. The work will be carried out by Siemens, which is supplying the new machines.

Dr Finocchi said: ’The radiology department of Noble’s Hospital is undergoing an innovative structural transformation of its cross sectional imaging service, welcoming a brand new 3Tesla MRI machine, thanks to the generosity of the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust and the DHSC.

’The new machine will use the latest technology available in the field of imaging, increasing the quality of exams and thus their diagnostic value, allowing us to improve the quality of the service we can offer to our patients.

’Furthermore the scanning capacity will be nearly doubled, allowing a better management of the difficult issue of waiting times for MRI.’

Dr Tim Kerruish, interim medical director at Noble’s, added: ’The incredibly generous gift of a state-of-the-art MRI scanner will make a very real and positive difference to many people in the Isle of Man.

’It will allow more scans to be done on the island, sparing people the often tiring journey to centres across, and also enable incredibly detailed scans that allow for better diagnosis and help with treatment plans.

’This additional capability is completely in line with our aims to provide as much high quality care as we can on the island and to be the best small island health and care system.’

The new MRI come with an eye-watering price tag of £1,031,000 and, in addition, the Henry Bloom Noble Trust is buying an extra package, at a cost of £57,000, that will make having an MRI a much more pleasant experience for patients.

This will provide a built-in monitor for patients to watch films, videos or cartoons; sound-reducing headphones to remove the noise of the machine working; a timer indicating to patients how long is left, and ambient background lighting.

This will be especially reassuring, and distracting, for children who need to have an MRI. The standard MRI experience can be noisy and frightening and children sometimes need to be anaesthetised beforehand.

Terry Groves, chairman of the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust, said: ’The trust, established over 130 years ago, exists precisely to help this kind of future-proofing, sharp end delivery of healthcare, through assisting in buying equipment outside of government’s budget.

’We have been working with the DHSC and radiology for over a year, sharing in the vision and the plan and we are delighted that our gift will put a significant element of that vision in place.’

He added: ’All of this has been made possible through the generosity of island residents.

’In the case of the trust, our gift is as a result of island residents remembering us in their wills, both past and future.

’Their families will all know what a tremendous contribution their loved ones have made to all island residents, today and for the future.’

The other element in the vision for the new Manx Diagnostic Imaging Centre is a new CT Scanner.

Two local cancer charities, Manx Breast Cancer Support Group and Mannin Cancers, have taken it upon themselves to raise £1.5 million to provide not just one but two new CT scanners.

Again, the aim to provide the very latest machines will help many patients in the island and will also prove highly cost-effective. For example, the new machines will be able to carry out CT scans which the hospital’s current CT scanner cannot. At the moment 500 people every year have to be flown off the island, some of them by air ambulance, for a cardiac CT scan.

Julie Stokes, the chairman of Manx Breast Cancer Support Group, said that the latest CT scanners were also used to find and diagnose cancers.

She said: ’Finding cancers early means people living longer and that’s what these machines can do. This is a once in 10 years opportunity to get the very best for the Isle of Man, a diagnostic facility that will make us the envy of hospitals across.

’What is really important to us is that the patient experience is as good as it can possibly get and we applaud the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust for providing this machine and the DHSC and all the staff in the radiography department for their hard work on this initiative.

’We are also playing our part in the Manx Diagnostic Imaging Centre by raising the money to purchase the new CT scanners. We have had wonderful help so far from the generous people on this island and we hope they will continue to support us and help us to reach our goal.’