• CCC-Wirral PET-CT machine set to retire on Thursday 4 December.
  • State-of-the-art new PET-CT will launch at CCC-Wirral in Spring 2026.
  • For the next few months, there will be no PET-CT scans in CCC-Wirral. Scans will continue to be available at CCC-Liverpool while work takes place to prepare for CCC-Wirral’s new machine.
  • The new PET-CT scanner will be worth the wait: it’s the first of its kind in the UK and will provide vastly improved imaging and a better patient experience.

There are exciting changes on the way for PET-CT scans for people in Wirral, Cheshire and surrounding areas. PET-CT provides detailed 3-D images inside the body. It combines PET imaging, which uses a mildly radioactive injection to highlight areas where cells are more active than normal, and CT scans, which involve taking a series of x-rays to provide a three-dimensional view. 

Radiographer in scrubs with patient lying on scanner bed. The scanner is O-shaped and has pink light inside it
The new scanner is set to be the UK's first Siemens Biograph Trinion

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre currently has two PET-CT scanners – one at its main site in Liverpool (CCC-Liverpool) and one at its Wirral site (CCC-Wirral). As PET-CT is highly specialised with only a few scanners in each region, both scanners are used for patients from many other hospitals in addition to those at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.  

Now the PET-CT scanner at CCC-Wirral, which launched in March 2016 and is reaching the end of its useful working life, is ready for retirement. 

On Thursday 4 December, it will scan its final patients, and staff from The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s Radiology, Physics and estates teams will begin preparing to welcome its replacement. 

Replacing a PET-CT scanner involves a huge amount of work. The current machine will need to be fully decommissioned before being removed from its room. There will be estates work to prepare for its replacement, followed by an extensive process of commissioning, testing and validating the new scanner before it is used for patients.

This work is expected to take three to four months and there will be no PET-CT in Wirral during this period. Instead, patients will have their PET-CT scans at CCC-Liverpool or at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. 

And the new PET-CT scanner at CCC-Wirral will definitely be worth the wait. 

Two clinical staff members at the control desk for a scanner
The new scanner will provide better images and
be much faster than the current machine

CCC-Wirral is set to become the first hospital in the UK with a brand-new state-of-the-art Siemens Biograph Trinion PET-CT scanner, boasting the very latest technology. 

The new scanner will:

  • Deliver vastly improved imaging and a better patient experience
  • Reduce average scan times from 25 minutes to around 7 minutes
  • Significantly increase PET-CT capacity at CCC-Wirral, enabling around 17 appointments per day compared with 10 on the current scanner

Louise Bunby, Divisional Director for Radiation Services at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has long been a leader in providing patients with the most innovative and advanced new imaging technology. We’re delighted that CCC-Wirral is to become the first hospital in the UK with the new Siemens Biograph Trinion PET-CT scanner, which we expect to launch by the end of Spring 2026. 

This will significantly increase NHS PET-CT capacity in the North West so we can deliver even more of these vital scans for patients from across the region as well as here at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre.

Dr Ruth Brown, Consultant Radiologist and PET-CT ARSAC licence holder at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:

The replacement of the Wirral PET-CT will allow The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to continue to provide a key diagnostic service for both oncologic and non-oncologic assessments. As this new installation can acquire scans faster without compromising on image quality, we will be helping facilitate timely diagnostic scans in the region both for both inpatients and the outpatients we serve.

Look out for updates on CCC-Wirral's new PET-CT scanner over the next few months.