Spire invests £1.5 million in new CT scanner for Spire Southampton Hospital, bringing faster diagnoses for cancer patients

Spire Southampton Hospital has unveiled a new, state-of-the art CT scanner, which will speed up diagnoses for patients with cancer and other diseases.

The scanner represents a £1.5 million investment by Spire Healthcare and will enable up to 20 patients a day to be scanned to detect cancer, cardiac disease and urgent neurological, gynaecological and orthopaedic conditions. The scanner will help provide diagnoses for both NHS and private patients, which will alleviate pressure on waiting lists and reduce waiting times for a scan.

The new equipment uses the latest technology, which means that it will take less time to complete scans, meaning more patients can be seen for a diagnosis than in the past. The new equipment is much wider inside than other scanners, and so is more comfortable for patients.

The scanning service currently operates Monday to Saturday, although it may be extended to cover Sundays, if there is demand.

The scanner is located in a new unit, which had to be levered into place using a specialist crane over a weekend earlier this month. Strict infection control processes were put in place to keep patients and staff COVID-secure during the installation process and the teams went to considerable effort to reduce noise and disruption so that the hospital could continue to function normally. A temporary CT has been on site through the eight-week installation period to allow critical services, including Spire Southampton’s leading cardiac service, to continue.

The new scanner is part of a broader investment programme that has included a £1.8 million MRI scanner, installed last year, an increase in the hospital’s bed capacity, and five new day care pods that are due to open later this month.

Fiona Taylor, Hospital Director at Spire Southampton Hospital, said: “Here at Spire Southampton Hospital, we are absolutely committed to making sure our patients can have fast access to diagnosis and treatment. Investing in state-of-the-art facilities, like our new scanner, enables us to do this.

“We are proud to be playing an important role in keeping a wide range of services going, including cancer services, at a time when our local NHS Trust needs to focus much of its resource on treating COVID-positive patients. With our new scanner, we can continue to support the local community and help address rising waiting lists in the area.”

As part of Spire’s contract with NHS England to provide support during the peaks of the pandemic, Spire Southampton Hospital provided cancer and other surgery for NHS patients. It cared for over 50,000 NHS patients in total, between March 2020 and March 2021.