A brand new MRI unit is being proposed for the county of Rutland, which could also offer other essential patient care services. If it goes ahead, it will provide the people of Rutland greater and quicker access to essential health facilities. Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Patient Care Locally (LLR PCL), a Community Interest Company who work in partnership with the NHS, are seeking planning permission to build the unit at Oakham Enterprise Park. Should the application be successful, the unit could be open as early as April next year (April,2023).
Rutland currently has no MRI facility. This means that patients requiring the service are often
subject to long wait times as well as having to travel out of the county to get their scans,
sometimes as far afield as Leicester and Peterborough.
If successful, LLR PCL would like to develop the unit to offer even more facilities, such as echocardiograms, non-obstetric ultrasounds and specialist consultations. The new facility will support local GP practices and complement the facilities already available at Rutland Memorial Hospital.
The location of the new unit will be familiar to many residents of the county as it is where Covid-19 vaccinations were previously given during the pandemic.
Dr Gareth Chidlow, Procurement Director of LLR PCL said ‘We are very excited to be developing the former Vaccination Centre to offer the people of Rutland local access to MRI scans,
non-obstetric ultrasound scans and Heart scans. Over the next few months we hope to be able to announce further medical facilities that will be available on site.’
LLR PCL has been engaging with local community leaders over the last few weeks and has
received a great deal of support for this project. If approved by the council, this will be a huge boon to the people of Rutland as well as relieving some pressure on our NHS.
LLR Patient Care Locally is a not-for-profit, Community Interest Company established in 2011 and
is made up of over 90 share-holding GP practices across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Working in tandem with the NHS, LLR PCL identifies what patient care needs can be undertaken in more local settings without the need for a hospital visit. This means patients can get the care
they need quicker and in a more familiar environment. Put simply, the right care at the right time,
within the right setting.