Hospital welcomes heart scanner

Heart patients throughout the East Midlands are being referred to Nottingham City Hospital because of a new scanner.

The new £1m machine can examine hearts for defects and blockages, as well as blood vessels throughout the body.

The scanner is the only one in the area with the ability to handle cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) cases.

An MRI screening is capable of picking up problems far earlier than older techniques but is very expensive.

Doctors say having the scanner has meant an entirely new group of patients are benefiting from the speed and accuracy of the advanced technology and problems.

People needing these scans were previously referred to hospitals in Leicester or as far away as the Papworth Hospital in Cambridge.

Patients from other hospitals in the East Midlands are regularly referred to the unit.