POLITICAL rivals in West Somerset have launched campaigns calling for the reinstatement of MRI and CT scanners in Minehead Hospital.

The scanners were removed three weeks ago by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and relocated to a new unit in Bridgwater Hospital.

The trust had placed them temporarily in Minehead last summer while a new unit was built for them in Bridgwater.

Now, West Somerset’s Liberal Democrat MP Rachel Gilmour has started a petition calling on the trust to reconsider the decision.

At the same time, Exmoor farmer and campaigner James Wright, who is chairman of the Conservative South West Rural Forum, has written to trust chairman Dr Rima Makarem asking her to reverse the decision and carry out a full impact assessment.

Mrs Gilmour said the loss of the scanners would lead to poorer health outcomes and higher transport costs for West Somerset patients.

She said: “The presence of these scanners at Minehead Hospital has enabled my constituents to access healthcare closer to where they are, rather than taking two buses, or an extraordinarily expensive taxi ride, to get to Musgrove Park Hospital.

“It has also meant people who might put off medical treatment can be seen quicker.

“An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, and that prevention element may well be lost if these scanners are taken away.”

Mrs Gilmour said she had already raised the issue directly with Care Minister Stephen Kinnock and with Dr Makarem.

She said public transport in West Somerset was ‘well below-par’, meaning patients often struggled to reach Minehead, let alone having to travel to Bridgwater or Taunton for scans.

Mr Wright, who also asked Freedom of Information (FoI) questions about the use of the scanners, said more than 1,300 people had been scanned in Minehead before the machines were removed.

He said: “These are elderly residents, many without cars, who are now being told to make hours-long round trips for a scan they could have had 10 minutes from home.

“The NHS did not assess the impact, did not model the travel.

“That is not how you treat people in West Somerset.”

Mr Wright said the trust had declined answer his question about patient waiting times before and after the scanners were in place in Minehead, stating that compiling the information would exceed the cost threshold permitted under the FoI Act.

Somerset Cllr Andy Hadley, one of two Conservatives representing Minehead on the unitary authority, said: “I have lived in Minehead for nearly 23 years.

“This hospital is vital part of healthcare in West Somerset.

“The data speaks for itself, 1,328 scans in eight months from a community that was told this was only temporary.

“There is nothing temporary about the need.

“Many of my residents are elderly, they do not drive, and public transport to Taunton is neither reliable nor affordable.

“Asking them to make a 50-mile round trip for a scan they could have had down the road is not a plan.

“The Trust must think again.”