New £1.4m scanner at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital to deliver over 5,000 additional diagnostic scans per year

On-going investment delivers greater treatment choice and faster access to healthcare for NHS and private patients

Spire St Anthony’s Hospital in Cheam, Surrey has installed a second, £1.4m state-of-the-art MRI scanner, which will speed up diagnosis for people with damage to bones, injuries to internal organs, problems with blood flow, stroke, cancer and cardiac problems. Both NHS and private patients will benefit from this new equipment, which will alleviate pressure on waiting lists and reduce diagnosis waiting times in the local area.

The new scanner is part of on-going investment at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital to increase capacity and improve the quality of care and patient comfort. Using this second MRI scanner, radiographers can scan twice as many patients as before – now up to 50 patients a day. In its first week of operation, this new equipment delivered 65 additional scans.

Advanced AI technology, combined with the scanner’s ability to image the patient quickly, delivers a higher quality diagnostic image for the consultants to use in their diagnosis of the patient’s condition. The scan table is now able to accommodate bariatric patients so they can also be imaged safely and comfortably.

The mobile scanner is located in the hospital grounds with new features such as screens on the ceiling and changeable LED lights which provide a calming environment for patients of all ages.

The MRI scanning service at Spire St Anthony’s currently operates Monday to Saturday 8am-8pm.

Jonathan Head, Hospital Director at Spire St Anthony’s Hospital, said: “At Spire St Anthony’s Hospital, we are committed to providing fast access to diagnoses and outstanding personalised care to people across the region, whenever they need it. Through an on-going programme of investment in state-of-the-art facilities like this new scanner, alongside other upgrades and improvements across our hospital, we can deliver the level of care in the most comfortable surroundings that our patients have come to expect.

“Receiving a diagnosis can be a worrying time for many people, but knowing they are being seen quickly, and that the latest technology is being used to care for them, goes a long way to putting people at ease. This is what people expect from Spire Hospitals and we’re pleased to be delivering that here at Spire St Anthony’s.”