New state-of-the-art scanner for local hospital
Stevenage MP Barbara Follett visited Lister Hospital on Monday 7 February to officially open their new CT Scanner.
Until August 2004, East and North Herts NHS Trust had a single-slice CT Scanner which meant that achieving a whole body scan was a slow process. This old machine was replaced with an advanced 16-slice Siemens scanner in October 2004. This new scanner, which cost £480,550, enables patients to be scanned far more quickly or in far more detail than before. This greatly enhances the diagnosis process.
A CT (computerized tomography) scanner is a special kind of X-ray machine. It was originally designed to take pictures of the brain. Now it is much more advanced and is used for taking pictures of virtually any part of the body. The scanner is used in the diagnosis of brain haemorrhages, fractured bones and cancer. During the scan, the patient lies on a bed which then moves slowly backwards and forwards to allow the scanner to take pictures of the body.
During her visit on Monday, Mrs Follett met with Dr Colm Prendergast (Consultant Radiologist and Clinical Director for Radiology) and his team. Mrs Follett and other invited guests were shown round the new facility and given a demonstration of how the scanner works.
Mrs Follett said “This huge doughnut of a scanner is going to make a real difference to patients and doctors in Stevenage”.
From left: Anna Crawley (Superintendent Radiographer), Barbara Follett MP, Chris King (Consultant Radiologist), Nick Carver (Chief Executive), Colm Prendergast (Clinical Director of Radiology), Alison Murray (Non-executive Director), Richard Beazley (Trust Chairman), Andreas Hadjiphanis (Siemens executive)
Issued: 10.02.05
Further information
Please contact Faye Bunch via the 'Contact' page, or by fax on 020 7219 1158.
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