The radiology team at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) welcomed Sir Rod Stewart, singer and songwriter, for a special visit to the mobile MRI unit today (24 February).
Sir Rod kindly funded a day’s worth of scans for patients who require an MRI scan which are carried out at the InHealth mobile unit in Harlow.
The mobile unit is an additional resource to the existing two MRI scanners at the hospital, enabling an extra 20-25 patients to be scanned each day.
InHealth, the UK’s largest specialist provider of diagnostic solutions, supply the mobile unit and have worked in partnership with the NHS for more than 30 years, providing additional capacity and convenient access to a wide range of diagnostic and healthcare services for patients across the UK.
Sir Rod kindly donated funds to The Princess Alexandra Hospital Charity, which covers the hire and use of the equipment, maintenance and operational costs.
Edmund Devlin, who received an MRI scan today, said: “I’m here to have a
much-needed MRI scan as I’m in a lot of pain and it’s really difficult to walk at the moment. Hopefully they will be able to find out what is wrong and go from there. It’s a really generous thing of Sir Rod to do, and I am very thankful.”
When visiting the hospital, Sir Rod Stewart said: “It’s been an honour to fund the MRI scans taking place today at PAHT.
“I wanted to prove that I’m not all mouth and trousers. Early detection and MRI scans are so essential in protecting your health.
“If this is a big success, which I think it will be, I’d like to do it in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, and just keep it going, and hope some other people follow me.
“Bless the NHS workers, they work so hard, salt of the earth. Thank you for the invitation.”
Stephanie Lawton, Chief Operating Officer at PAHT, said: “It has been fantastic to work with Sir Rod and we are grateful for his donation and support.
“We have been able to scan between 20-25 additional patients today, which will help to reduce our waiting list by 10%, and move those patients onto the next stage of their diagnosis and treatment.
“A huge thank you to Sir Rod and we would be delighted to work with him again in the future.”
