HRH The Princess Royal to visit St Leonards

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal is to visit Conquest Hospital, St Leonards this month to open the new MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) Suite.
HRH The Princess Royal. Pic Steve Robards SR1915586 SUS-191106-143738001HRH The Princess Royal. Pic Steve Robards SR1915586 SUS-191106-143738001
HRH The Princess Royal. Pic Steve Robards SR1915586 SUS-191106-143738001

She opened phase one of the hospital in February 1993 and opened the hospital’s second phase in 1998, 21 years to the day before she is due to open the MRI suite on July 17.

Her Royal Highness will unveil a plaque to mark the opening of the new facility, meet some of those who have generously donated and raised money to fund the purchase of two new MRI scanners, as well as visit staff in the hospital.

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Dr Adrian Bull, chief executive of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT), said: “It is a great honour for us that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will visit the hospital and open our new MRI Suite.

“This new suite is a significant investment offering patients and clinicians much improved diagnostic facilities. The opening ceremony is an opportunity for us to thank our major contributors who all made donations to fund the new scanners.”

The new MRI suite is a modular construction made up of 17 separate modules, some weighting more than 26 tons.

Each module was originally built in Hull, transported and assembled together on site.

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The trust said the new multi-million pound development provides patients with a state-of-the-art facility with spacious changing and waiting areas.

Two wide bore Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanners; one funded by the MRI Scanner Appeal Committee, Friends of Conquest Hospital and the other funded by the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital allows the trust to meet the increasing demand for Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the local population, it added.

Dr Justin Harris, consultant radiologist and clinical lead for radiology, said: “The new MRI suite provides a custom built facility with two state-of-the-art scanners.

“It is a vast technological improvement on the single 15 year old scanner we previously used. The suite provides high quality imaging to the local population, meeting the increasing demand for complex MRI including cardiac, prostate and small bowel imaging.

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“Patients suffering from claustrophobia benefit from the scanners wide bore access and the use of audio-visual aids to reduce the need for sedation or general anaesthetic.

“Improved imaging quality now enables much more effective diagnosis, analysis and subsequent treatment of pathologies such as stroke and many types of cancer.”