New scanners at the Isle of Wight NHS Trust accounted for an investment of more than £4.1 million over the last financial year.

A second MRI scanner cost £2 million and a CT scanner cost £1.1 million, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's annual general meeting heard last week.

Major investments by the trust also included upgrades to the children's emergency department at St Mary's Hospital.

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust, which has also just won a CQC rating of 'good', more than doubled the amount it spent on capital investment.

Isle of Wight County Press:

In a meeting on Thursday, September 30, board members heard £20.1 million was spent on capital investments, between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.

The trust's planned capital investment only totalled £5.9 million, but it received £1.4 million from the Department of Health and Social Care in donated equipment and secured a further £12.8 million in funding.

Speaking at the AGM, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's finance director, Darren Cattell, said almost £4 million was ploughed into the trust's response to Covid-19.

It was spent on infrastructure, in case there was a surge in demand and extra capacity was required.

Mr Cattell said it also went towards the planning of 'exciting' future projects, including the purchasing of properties, one in Newport and one in Sandown, which are destined to become integrated health hubs.

£1.8 million was spent developing the strategic outline case for the Isle of Wight NHS Trust's 'investing in our future' strategy.

This year's spend was £11.4 million more than in 2019/20, when only £8.7 million was spent.