12 December 2018
During an inspection looking at part of the service
North Tees MRI Unit is operated by Alliance Medical Limited (AML) .
The North Tees MRI Unit commenced service delivery in 1997 and was originally a joint venture
between a private sector provider and the then a local NHS trust.
The MRI services at both North Tees and Hartlepool have been provided by AML under a joint contract with a local NHS trust since December 2001.
As a condition of being awarded the tender the original MRI scanner at North Tees was replaced in 2002 and a further significant upgrades in equipment occurred in 2008 and 2010. A cardiac MRI service commenced in September 2016. This is a trust cardiologist led service working closely with and complimenting the cardiac MRI service with another local NHS trust.
The unit is registered with the CQC to undertake the regulated activity of diagnostic and screening procedures. The site provides a service for both adults and paediatric patients. The site operates from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, with reduced opening hours during bank holidays.
The North Tees MRI Unit is a separate ground floor department located within the local NHS hospital and is accessed from the west corridor of the podium block. The MRI unit is adjacent to the main radiology department and is in close proximity to the Emergency Assessment unit, Paediatric day unit and Adult day unit.
On entering the MRI unit there is an open plan waiting area for out-patients and a reception area for two members of the administration team. There is a disabled toilet and two patient changing rooms, one for disabled use, accessed directly from the waiting area. A staff changing room is also accessed from the waiting room.
A key-coded door allows access to the control room. From the control room there is access to the MRI scan room which houses the scanner and associated coils. Adjoining the control room is a patient recovery room which is used for facilitating in-patients and a reporting office for the use of radiologists and cardiologists with two reporting workstations.
A staff room is accessed via a link corridor with further controlled access to the MRI plant room which houses ancillary equipment for scanner operation.
The registered manager’s office adjoins the staff rest room and also serves as a reporting room.
All external doors to the department are key-coded except for the main door which is locked between 22.00 and 08.00.
The service provides contracted imaging to NHS funded patients. There were 7975 MRI scans performed at the service between November 2017 to October 2018; 7788 of these were commissioned by a local acute trust and 187 were completed as part of a NHS contract for a clinical commissioning group. 1044 patients scanned were under the age of 18. 39 patients were under one year, 102 were between the ages of one and five and 803 were between six and 18.