Truro Hospital

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust came into existence on 1 April 1992. The Trust provides acute medical services to a population of approximately 383,000. The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Health Authority provides health care for a resident population of 483,000 – 100,000 of which are in an overlap region with the Plymouth Health Authority. There are ten towns within the managed area with populations of around 20,000 but the majority of the population (around 60%) live in small communities dispersed through the peninsula.

The Radiology Department

There are 14 Full time equivalent Consultant Radiologists in Truro providing the full range of diagnostic and interventional procedures for the large Cornwall population. In 2008 the department performed   265000 examinations .

In addition to general X-Ray facilities the department runs two Multislice CT scanners (16&64 detector row). Two 1.5 T MRI scanners. There is a ceiling mounted angiography suite and two floor mounted non-vascular intervention/screening rooms. The nuclear medicine department boasts 3 gamma cameras with SPECT CT capability in addition.

Interventional Radiology is particularly progressive in Truro with all forms of vascular and non-vascular intervention being undertaken. Truro has the largest endovascular aneurysm repair programme in the peninsula.

Since February 2006 the departments has become film less other than in mammography. All the Consultants and trainees use voice recognition software to transcribe their reports. A pioneering development which has proved hugely successful.The department has met the 6 week waiting list targets since September 2007 and is now hoping to invest to provide zero wait capacity in the coming months.