NEW diagnostic equipment that could transform the lives of hundreds of patients will soon be operational at Ludlow Hospital.

The equipment costing more than £50,000 is being provided by the Ludlow Hospital League of Friends with NHS chiefs promising to provide the trained staff to operate the machine.

It will be an ultra-sound scanner that will be able to be used in a wide range of diagnosis enabling doctors to identify what is wrong with the patient and determine a programme of treatment.

This is the first time that this equipment will have been provided at Ludlow and will mean that local patients from south Shropshire will be able to be examined closer to home rather than having to travel.

Up until now anyone requiring this kind of scan has had to travel to hospital either in Shrewsbury, Telford or Hereford.

Ultra sound can be used in the diagnosis of a wide range of conditions and also in the monitoring or the progress of a pregnancy.

The machine that is on its way to Ludlow will be used primarily on patients that require examination of the abdomen.

Ultra-sound works by using sound waves to create a visual image that can then be studied by the medical team. It is painless and less hazardous or invasive than x-rays, exploratory surgery or some other examination procedures.

The ultrasound machine is expected to be in regular use at Ludlow Hospital by the end of the summer.

It is the latest in a long list of equipment provided by the League of Friends of Ludlow Hospital that has made many additional services available in the town.

Also now used at a cost of several thousand pounds is a ‘motoring pack’ that can be used on a patient to check upon vital indicators such as heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure and breathing.

In recent years the League of Friends has spent more than £270,000 on the hospital in Ludlow with the most significant investment being in six kidney dialysis machines.

These have helped to transform the lives of people living in the area that need kidney dialysis often several times a week. In the past they have had to made regular tiring journeys to Shrewsbury.

Peter Corfield, chairman of the League of Friends at Ludlow Hospital, said that providing the broadest possible range of equipment is not just about improving facilities for patients.

“The more that Ludlow Hospital has to offer the better its chances when decisions are made about future health provision and the locations of the urgent care centres,” said Mr Corfield.

“We are determined to do everything that we possibly can to secure the long term future of the long term future of the hospital in Ludlow for the benefit of the people of the town and the surrounding area.”

The Ludlow Hospital League of Friends has 1,000 members.