Council loan offered to see return of X-rays
X-RAY services could soon be returned to Hinckley as the town’s borough council has offered to loan the funds to reinstate the “key facility”.
The department at Hinckley and District Hospital was forced to close after the 27-year-old equipment became dangerous for staff to use, with residents now having to travel to Coalville or Glenfield for the service.
Hinckley and Bosworth borough councillors invited members of West Leicestershire clinical commissioning group (CCG) to a scrutiny commission meeting where the offer was made.
The money would be in advance of an £8 million investment commitment made by the NHS to upgrade Hinckley’s health facilities, including kitting out Hinckley Health Centre, which is next to the hospital, with X-ray/ultrasound services.
An alternative suggestion made by the CCG representatives during the meeting was the council purchase the new equipment and lease it back to the CCG if a loan arrangement was not feasible.
Councillors backed both suggestions and council leader Stuart Bray has written to the CCG setting out these options and formally offering the borough council’s help.
He said: “This is a key facility for local residents that we are keen to reinstate. We appreciate the financial restrictions facing the CCG and we are determined to work with them to find a timely solution that sees an X-ray facility returned to Hinckley as soon as possible.”
Helen Mather, director of
LLR (Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland) Alliance, previously said it would cost about £250,000 to replace the service.
She told a health scrutiny committee meeting at Leicestershire County Council that bosses tried to keep the unit going, importing kit from around the world to sustain the facility. Radiographers were risking injury as the X-ray tube they would move into place to produce the image was seizing up because of its age.
Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Mullaney launched a petition calling for the reinstatement of the department. The petition is on the Bosworth Liberal Democrats website and you can get a paper copy by calling 07576 289910.