Birmingham Women's Hospital appeals for £1.5m MRI scanner

Birmingham Women's Hospital is raising £1.5 million to buy its own MRI scanner, because around 1,300 women and babies who need a scan each year currently have to be discharged and readmitted elsewhere.

Despite being one of only two dedicated women's hospitals in the UK, the hospital in Edgbaston has no MRI scanner on site. With no scanner, around 60 per cent of these patients wait longer than six weeks for their scan.

Who would benefit

An on-site scanner would be used for:

• women with gynaecological conditions;
• pregnant women going through complicated pregnancies;
• poorly babies on the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit who need a scan to help diagnose heart and brain injuries.

Travelling to another hospital for a scan can cause stress, cost families money and separate mothers from their newborn babies.

"Answers many families are agonisingly waiting for"

Matt Boazman, chief executive of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Having an MRI scanner on site at our hospital will make a massive difference to the service we can provide our women and babies."

"As a dedicated women's hospital, many women and pregnant families will come to us for specialist care they are unable to get at their local hospital, yet the fact we are unable to offer them a scan on site is far from ideal," he said.

"Bringing an MRI to our hospital will create more capacity to scan our patients, but most importantly, it will help to provide answers many of our women and families are agonisingly waiting for and provide our teams with the information they need to create the best treatment plans."

A new suite

To fit the scanner, the hospital would extend its ground floor and create a dedicated MRI suite, with the latest model of scanner, a control room and a reporting room where scans are analysed. A new waiting room, lobby and changing facilities would also be built.

The appeal has already raised £1 million, leaving £500,000 still to find. Details of how to donate are at bwh.org.uk/mri.

What is an MRI scan?

Magnetic resonance imaging uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce detailed pictures of the inside of the body. Unlike X-rays and CT scans, it does not use radiation, which makes it particularly suitable for pregnant women and babies. It is especially good at showing soft tissues such as the brain, the heart and the organs of the pelvis.

About the hospital

Birmingham Women's Hospital delivers thousands of babies a year and provides specialist care including fetal medicine, a neonatal unit, fertility services and gynaecology. It is part of the same NHS trust as Birmingham Children's Hospital, and many families travel from across the country for its specialist services. Charity appeals like this one pay for equipment and facilities beyond what NHS budgets cover.