Paralympian Anton Raimondo, the Vice Captain of The British Sitting Volleyball Team, this week joined Stephen Collier, Group Chief Executive of BMI Healthcare and David Henderson, Executive Director of BMI The Kings Oak and Cavell Hospital, in launching the Enfield hospital’s new £1.7million imaging department.
At the launch David Henderson was joined by consultants, nurses and senior members of staff from BMI The Kings Oak and Cavell Hospital and Alliance Medical as well as GPs from the local Enfield community. “It was a great pleasure to see that the hospital has the support of so many people in the local community,” David Henderson commented. “Being able to deliver a faster, more efficient service to patients is something at the core of our team’s values and as we strive to reach new highs I would like to thank everyone who attended this launch for their support. We would also like to thank Anton for his support in helping us launch this new department. He is truly inspiring and on behalf of everyone who attended I would like to wish him all the best in his bid for gold at this year’s Paralympic Games.”
The investment into new imaging department at The Kings Oak and Cavell Hospital was made possible through a partnership between the hospitals’ parent company, BMI Healthcare, and Alliance Medical. At the event David Henderson announced that to celebrate the launch of the department BMI Healthcare and Alliance Medical would be donating £1,000 to The British Sitting Volleyball Team to support them in their bid for Paralympic glory.
“On behalf of The British Sitting Volleyball Team I would like to thank everyone at BMI The Kings Oak and Cavell Hospital and Alliance Medical for this kind donation,” Anton Raimondo, the Vice Captain of The British Sitting Volleyball Team, commented. “As an athlete and a Paralympian, I am all too aware of the importance medical diagnostics, expertise and experience can play in the effective delivery of healthcare. With the launch of this new imaging department, Enfield residents have a facility they can truly be proud of.”
The new MRI and CT scanners will allow the team at BMI The Kings Oak and Cavell Hospital to improve the cardiac, spinal, neurological, musculo-skeletal, orthopaedic, vascular, urological, abdominal and breast imaging services available to its patients. This will allow clinicians from a range of specialties to offer a wider selection of routine and complex MRI procedures to their patients. David Loasby, Business Development Director at Alliance Medical, said: “Both the MRI and CT scanners will sit alongside the hospitals’ recently upgraded Siemens Multix Top X-ray and fully equipped ultrasound and mammography departments to create a centre of diagnostic excellence in Enfield.”
The new department, which at its centre has the latest GE Optima MR450w open bore MRI scanner and a GE Optima 660 64 slice CT scanner, will provide patients with access to faster state-of-the-art scanning, higher quality images and improved results. Unlike conventional MRI scanners, the open bore scanner does not require the patient’s whole body to be inside the machine. For most examinations, the patient’s head will remain outside the scanner. If it is necessary for the head to be positioned inside, the open bore scanner provides 30cm of space above their face, about twice that of a traditional MRI scanner. Aside from reducing patients’ anxiety this new technology allows the hospital to accommodate needs such as:
- Pain and mobility issues
- Claustrophobia
- Respiratory problems
As the scanner has a wider circumference, it can also accommodate larger patients who might otherwise not be able to receive appropriate treatment.
For further information contact:
Richard Morgan
Senior PR Executive
07590 418 514
richard.morgan@bmihealthcare.co.uk
BMI Healthcare
1. BMI Healthcare is the UK’s largest independent provider of private healthcare with more than 70 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the country
2. More than 7,000 consultants choose to practise at BMI hospitals, which collectively handle over 1.25 million patient visits each year
3. BMI Healthcare focuses on clinical excellence, quality of service and efficiency, and have a deserved reputation in the independent healthcare sector for consistent achievement of these values
4. For more information about BMI Healthcare hospitals, please visit www.bmihealthcare.co.uk
About Alliance Medical Limited:
• Alliance Medical Limited is Europe’s leading independent provider of medical imaging services. Established in 1989, Alliance Medical operates in 17 European countries. Alliance Medical’s “intelligent imaging” services focus on the convergence of skill, technology and information and help provide clinicians with vital knowledge to make accurate and speedy diagnoses.
• In the UK, Alliance Medical has over 20 years’ experience of delivering a range of diagnostic imaging services for patients. The company operates a network of scanning centres which offer predominantly MRI scanning, but some sites also offer a range of other diagnostic modalities including CT, PET/CT, DEXA, X-ray and Ultrasound.
• Alliance Medical currently provides over 120 medical imaging services to the NHS and independent sector and has developed services in partnership with local NHS Trusts to ensure that patients receive the best possible care at the right time.
