Charing Cross Outpatients to Be 'Decanted' to Other Centres
To allow for installation of new state of the art MRI scanner
Charing Cross Hospital
May 6, 2024
Charing Cross Hospital outpatients requiring MRI scans are being “decanted” to other centres across London while a new state of the art scanner is being installed.
The Fulham Palace Road hospital says it is investing in a 3T MRI scanner for its imaging department as a replacement for its existing 15-year-old scanner.
The hospital says, “ We are working with estates and facilities to ensure that the installation, which will be on the first floor of Charing Cross Hospital, has as little impact as possible.
“We expect the busiest periods to be during removal of the existing scanner in May and the introduction of the new scanner in September.
“ In order to ensure we maintain MRI capacity during the installation works, from May 7 till October 1, most MRI outpatient care will be decanted to St Mary’s Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, and the Wembley Community Diagnostic Centre during this period.”
The hospital says that the Philips 3T 7700, which is costing £3.4 million, is one of the most advanced MRI - short for magnetic resonance imaging - scanners available. It offers a much wider range of scans and significantly improved images, assisted by the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which will improve its diagnostic capability and give it the ability to tailor scans more closely to patients’ needs.
It will also provide a better experience for patients, with a screen and audio within the scanner to guide them through the scan itself. For some patients, it could also mean shorter scan times. There are also prism glasses, which enable patients to see outside the machine during the scan and can help people with feelings of claustrophobia.
Charing Cross has also agreed to become a reference centre for the scanner in our local region, which will mean continuing to receive the latest software updates and three months of training to support staff using the new equipment from October onwards.
An MRI scanner
Dr Amrish Mehta, consultant radiologist and director of women’s, cardiac, clinical support and sexual health services at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust said: "This investment is great news for staff and patients alike. This cutting-edge technology will significantly improve our diagnostic capability and quality, allowing us to better tailor scans to patients' needs.
“The scanner itself also has features which I hope will make the experience a little easier for patients.
"Thank you to everyone involved in this exciting programme, including everyone supporting the temporary decant so we can maintain our MRI capacity during the installation."
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which includes Charing Cross, Hammersmith and St Mary’s Hospitals says investment in the new scanner is part of its wider estates investment plan.
This includes refurbishment and rebuilding schemes for Charing Cross and Hammersmith Hospitals refurbishment and rebuild schemes, with first-stage business cases to be released shortly.
A second phase of improvements to 3 West ward at Charing Cross Hospital, costing £2.4 million, is already in the pipeline. This will expand consultation and waiting areas, alongside wider refurbishment, and is due to be delivered by March next year.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |