New MRI Suite arrives at Hastings’ Conquest Hospital

The new MRI Suite has arrived at Conquest Hospital.
The MRI Suite being lifted into place at Conquest HospitalThe MRI Suite being lifted into place at Conquest Hospital
The MRI Suite being lifted into place at Conquest Hospital

Each of the 17 modules has travelled from Hull to the Conquest Hospital in a specific order and set to a precise timetable over a three-day period.

Once on site, each module, some weighing over 26 tons, were craned off a lorry into position. The modules were joined together in a specific sequence to form the new MRI Suite on the western side of the Conquest Hospital.

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Chris Hodgson, director of estates and facilities, said: “This is a very exciting period in the development of our new MRI Suite. Over the space of three days the site went from just having concrete footings to what appears, on the outside, to be an almost completed building. The 17 separate modules have been constructed in a warehouse in Hull and travelled down to the hospital to be assembled together on site. There is still a lot of work to be undertaken internally, including the arrival and commissioning of the two MRI scanners before the new development becomes operational in late spring/early summer 2019.”

The site before the MRI Suite arrived. SUS-190326-114533001The site before the MRI Suite arrived. SUS-190326-114533001
The site before the MRI Suite arrived. SUS-190326-114533001

Once complete this new multi-million pound development will provide patients with a state of the art facility with spacious changing and waiting areas.

Two wide bore MRI scanners – one kindly funded by the Friends of Conquest Hospital MRI Scanner Appeal and the other funded by the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital – will allow the East Sussex NHS Trust to meet the increasing demand for Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the local population, helping to reduce the need for patients to travel.

Dr Justin Harris, consultant radiologist and clinical lead for radiology, said: “Our existing MRI scanner is over 14 years old, is outdated and unsuitable for many of our patients. The new MRI scanner suite provides a custom-built facility with two state-of-the-art scanners. The suite will provide high quality imaging to the local population, meeting the increasing demand for complex MRI including cardiac, prostate and small bowel imaging. Patients suffering from claustrophobia will benefit from the scanners wide bore access and the use of audio-visual aids to reduce the need for sedation or general anaesthetic. Technology has moved on enormously since the existing scanner was purchased in 2004. Today’s improved imaging quality now enables much more effective diagnosis, analysis and subsequent treatment of pathologies such as stroke and many types of cancer.”

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