Ealing Hospital welcomed John Sergeant on Thursday 17 December to ‘officially’ open the CT Scanner and Digital Room at Ealing Hospital NHS Trust in Southall.
Mr Sergeant had an illustrious BBC career spanning three decades, as well as being ITN’s political editor prior to his retirement in 2003. Last year he was a Strictly Come Dancing! contestant.
Mr Sergeant was introduced to members of the radiology team and met some of the patients.
Dr Miranda Harvie, consultant radiologist and project lead for the CT build, showed Mr Sergeant the state-of-the-art scanning machine – only the second of its kind in a London hospital.
The scanner scans so fast that the whole abdomen is imaged in 8 seconds, obtaining 128 pictures per rotation and rotating 3 times per second.
Images are exquisitely detailed for high quality diagnostic imaging and use a lower radiation dose than similar machines. It is used throughout the day for the Emergency Department, and Inpatient and Outpatient scanning.
Such machines are complex and demand a high level of knowledge and skill to operate safely and competently.
Dr Harvie said: "It is wonderful to have the opportunity to show Mr Sergeant and other colleagues the excellent work of the team and the sophistication of our technology to support patient care. Radiology is a fascinating area to work in, as it is constantly evolving. We have seen a significant increase in throughput and efficiency with this new scanner."
Her colleague, Dr Akkib Rafique, also showed Mr Sergeant the digital x-ray room. The equipment can be operated remotely allowing the radiographer to be in the room with the patient at all times, which can be reassuring during such procedures.
The new CT scanning and digital x-ray facilities were a £1.5m investment.