The independent and private sector is lending even more weight to the effort to deal with Covid-19 with a much-needed injection of diagnostic capability and capacity.
State of the art scanners and expert radiographers are being drafted in to help with the complicated work of diagnosing people with suspected Covid-19 infection.
The partnership with the NHS, which has been brokered by the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), will see 33 scanners being made available to the NHS, along with 300 radiographers and clinical assistants who will operate the service across the country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Alliance Medical Limited will be supplying 16 scanners, InHealth 13 scanners and Cobalt Health four scanners/
If used at full capacity, over 23,500 scans could be conducted each week, the IHPN said.
The CT scans take place alongside oral swab tests using RT-polymerase chain reaction test kits.
Specialists believe that CT scans of the lungs are a reliable way to diagnose Covid-19, and the process is quick. It takes less than 15 minutes to complete, and