Plans to locate Rutland's first MRI scanning unit at Oakham Enterprise Park (OEP) have taken a step forward.

Community Interest Company Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Patient Care Locally (LLR PCL), working in partnership with Rutland County Council, are seeking to locate an MRI Pad at OEP, which is owned by the Council. This will allow a mobile MRI Unit provided by University Hospitals Leicester to be located there.

Rutland currently has no MRI facility within the county. This means patients needing the service are often subject to long wait times, as well as having to travel out of the county to Leicester and Peterborough to have their scans. 

Following discussions between LLR PCL and Rutland County Council, a possible location for the PAD has been identified. More detailed plans are now being developed, which – if approved – could see a scanner put in place at the site for a minimum of five years, helping to improve diagnostic services in the county and reduce waiting times for patients.

Paula Clark, Chair of LLR PCL, said: "Identifying a possible location at Oakham Enterprise Park on behalf of UHL is an important first step towards realising our shared ambitions for a Rutland MRI scanner, in what would be a genuine first for the county. We are also excited about the potential for increased diagnostics at OEP – working in tandem with the MRI unit to offer other tests like echocardiograms and non-obstetric ultrasounds . There is still a lot of work to be done to take these plans to the next stage but progress is being made and all of this is good news for local patients." 

Councillor Samantha Harvey, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Care at Rutland County Council and Chair of Rutland's Health and Wellbeing Board said: "The Council is committed to working with partners to develop Rutland's health infrastructure, so we can improve access to care and deliver essential services closer to home.

"Having fair and equitable access to services for all residents is one of the priorities in our Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Locating an MRI scanner at OEP would bring us nearer to our goal of having a wider range of planned and diagnostic health services in the county – reducing distances that people need to travel for routine appointments."

Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton added: "Working together, Rutland County Council, Community Interest Company Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland Patient Care Locally, the Integrated Care Board and I hope we have secured a much-needed MRI unit for our communities, and I am so pleased that Oakham Enterprise Park has now been identified as a possible location. We currently have no MRI facility within Rutland, so this unit is absolutely vital to improve diagnostic services locally and reduce waiting times for scans.   

"This is a really important step forward to reduce the backlog and support our communities, and I look forward to seeing the MRI in place in the next couple of months to reduce the distance members of our communities are having to travel for routine scans and appointments."

A planning application for the new MRI scanner at OEP will be submitted to Rutland County Council shorty, to be considered by Planning Officers. It is not possible to say yet when a decision might be made on the application. Further information will be added to the Planning section of the Council's website, once available online.

For more information about to work of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Patient Care Locally, please visit the LRPCL website.