Minehead's MP has launched a petition to prevent vital equipment being removed from the town's local hospital.
CT and MRI scanners were installed at Minehead Community Hospital, located on Luttrell Way, in August 2025 as a temporary measure while a new community diagnostic centre is constructed on Bower Lane in Bridgwater.
The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (which manages the county's acute and community hospitals) removed the scanners in late-March, forcing patients to travel either to Musgrove Park Hospital or the Taunton diagnostic centre near the M5.
Rachel Gilmour, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tiverton and Minehead, has now launched a petition urging the trust to reconsider this decision, arguing their removal will lead to poorer health outcomes and higher transport costs for her constituents.
Here's everything you need to know:
How many people have used the Minehead facilities?
The Minehead scanners were provided under contract by AGITO Medical, a specialist mobile diagnostic provider.
A Freedom of Information request, submitted by Conservative campaigner James Wright, revealed that 723 CT scans and 605 MRI scans were completed at the Minehead site between August 2025 and March 2026 - an average of 166 scans per month.
The information request also revealed that no impact assessments were undertaken before the decision to withdraw the Minehead scanners was made - with the trust declining to provide information on patient waiting times before and after the scanners were installed.
Mr Wright said: "These are elderly residents, many without cars, who are now being told to make hours long round trip for a scan they could have had ten minutes from home.
"The NHS didn’t assess the impact, didn’t model the travel. That is not how you treat people in West Somerset."
How has the local MP responded?
Mrs Gilmour - who has represented Minehead since July 2024 - said she had been inundated with concerns about the scanners for several months, and had escalated the issue with care minister Stephen Kinnock MP.
She said: "My caseworkers have been hearing of issues with the MRI and CT Scanners at Minehead for months now, which is why I raised this matter with the chair of the Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and with the minister, both through letters and in person.
"The presence of these scanners at Minehead Community 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 - and it has also meant that 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 been pressing the trust for a "proper explanation" for some time, and warned that the scanners' removal represented a false economy.
Read more
She said: "The demand for them at the moment isn't enough to justify the cost of keeping the service.
"That might well be the case, but it's also the case that my constituents suffer from well below-par public transport links, which often means they can't get to Minehead.
"Imagine how much worse that problem will be if they have to get to Taunton, or Bridgwater?"
Mrs Gilmour has been a frequent campaigner for improved health services in west Somerset, pushing for improved access to dentists and fairer funding for pharmacies.
If the scanners cannot be restored, she said she would continue fighting for better transport between Minehead and Musgrove, building on the work of the Somerset Bus Partnership.
She said: "I am working with my transport advisor, David Northey, to push for service improvements from FirstBus, and I have also raised with the trust the issue of buses not being allowed on to the Musgrove Park Hospital estate.
"If my constituents could get a bus straight from Minehead to Musgrove, without having to change, or walk, that would be an improvement. It wouldn't be the ideal outcome, because that still means going all the way to Taunton for medical treatment, but it would be a step in the right direction.
"I also want to see transport improvements across the whole of west Somerset; this is a matter which is repeatedly brought up to me in surgeries with my constituents, and day in, day out in my inbox.
"I would urge anyone in my constituency with a public transport issue to get in touch with me, so that I can be informed by your experiences, and use them to press for further and further service improvements, whether that's from FirstBus, or elsewhere."
How have local councillors responded?
Minehead is represented on Somerset Council by two Conservative councillors - both of whom have expressed "concern and disappointment" at the decision.
Councillor Mandy Chilcott said: "West Somerset is an area with poor connectivity.
"Attending an appointment in either Bridgwater or Blackbrook in Taunton will now become almost impossible for those who are unwell or do not have their own transport, given travel times and return connections take many hours.
"I read with some cynicism that the uptake for appointments has been comparatively low, as I understand not everyone has been given the option of having their scan in Minehead.
"Once again, if you live in this area, another NHS service becomes out of reach.
"The government's ten-year plan aims to deliver NHS services closer to homes and to narrow health inequalities.
"Given the recognition that communities in rural or coastal areas are more likely to experience worse NHS access and worse outcomes, surely this is a move in the wrong direction."
Councillor Andy Hadley added: "I am deeply disappointed to hear the CT/ MRI facilities are to be removed from Minehead Community Hospital.
"I am extremely disturbed by some reports that this because the outpatients bookings team were not offering Minehead to patients in order to keep patient numbers up elsewhere; this, of course, would have to be investigated as to its authenticity.
"Minehead and the surrounding towns and villages are some 25 miles away from our nearest medical facilities; they only have one scheduled bus service to Taunton and nothing to Bridgwater.
"Our residents are amongst the most elderly population in the country, and any trip to Taunton is extremely time-consuming and costly and can take up the whole day in many cases.
"Our residents deserve better, these facilities should be available in Minehead. The hospital is well-placed, easy to get to, has free parking and a modern building that should be utilised to its fullest potential.
"This would not only make access to these facilities far better for west Somerset residents, but free up badly-needed time and appointments in Musgrove Park Hospital."
How has the NHS justified the decision?
Adam Turner, head of imaging at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, reiterated the demand for the facilities at Minehead had been "comparatively low" and that the trust was committing to investing in other facilities at the town's hospital.
He said: "Through the national community diagnostic centre programme, we have significantly expanded CT and MRI capacity in Somerset, including opening centres in Taunton and Yeovil, with further capacity to opening in Bridgwater this summer.
"To manage existing demand prior to the opening of the Bridgwater centre, relocatable CT and MRI scanners were temporarily placed at Minehead and Bridgwater community hospitals. A lack of available space meant we couldn’t locate all of the scanners in Bridgwater.
"Scanners have been located in Minehead since August 2025 and in this short period, the uptake for appointments has been comparatively low, leading to poor utilisation rates.
"Other diagnostic services at Minehead are more widely used, and we have recently invested in upgrading the x‑ray room at Minehead Community Hospital. This will support the local community, for the next 10-year life-cycle of the equipment.
"We want to provide services in local communities where possible and we will continue to look for opportunities to do this in Minehead."
What can I do?
To sign Mrs Gilmour's petition, visit www.rachelgilmour.org.uk/campaigns/save-minehead-hospital-scanners.
This petition will be sent to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), as well as being shared with the hospital trust and the NHS Somerset integrated care board (ICB - which is in the process of being merged with its Dorset and Wiltshire counterparts).
Mrs Gilmour said: "They need to hear directly from my constituents about the importance of the scanners at Minehead Community Hospital, so they can see it is not a problem of demand, it is a problem of access.
"Removing those scanners from Minehead would be the wrong move, and I urge all my constituents to sign my petition, and back my calls to save our scanners."
Share