PATIENTS in Worcester will soon be able to have X-rays and scans in a city car park.

Worcester City Council has granted permission for mobile medical units to park up in Worcestershire County Cricket Club's New Road car park.

It is hoped the move will cut waiting times as it means patients can have diagnostic procedures like MRI, ultrasound, audiology and X-ray investigations away from hospital.

The state-of-the-art units, which could be up and running by as early as next month, will be run by Mercury Health, the healthcare delivery arm of Tribal Group Plc, which is hoping to operate similar services for NHS patients across the West Midlands - including clinics on Malvern Rugby Club's ground in Spring Lane, Malvern Link, Kidderminster Harriers football ground and Queen Elizabeth Drive car park in Pershore.

Under a Government contract, which will last for an initial period of five years, Mercury Health aims to provide up to 190,000 diagnostic procedures a year.

Some patients may have already benefitted from a similar scheme at Kidderminster Hospital where 850 MRI scans a year are carried out in mobile units run by Alliance Medical, which parks up for three days every four to six weeks.

Breast screening also takes place in mobile units around the county, which are run by Worcestershire Primary Care Trust.

Mercury Health has been working closely with the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trusts to identify sites that are closer to patients, easily accessible, well known to local residents and have good parking facilities during the week.

Mercury's managing director of diagnostics, Paul Hobson, said the initiative will build extra capacity in diagnostics, reduce waiting times and brings services closer to patients, in line with government policy.

"Patients can be quickly referred by GPs to specialists for quicker access to diagnostic tests and will benefit from the state-of-the-art equipment in a clean and comfortable environment," he said.

But plans for patients to be able to undergo operations in city car parks have been axed after the private Nuffield Hospitals group pulled out of talks to bring their mobile units to the area.