This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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New scanner at Stobhill
17/01/2006
A new state of the art CT scanner suite at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow was officially opened today.
The £740,000 Gina McCreath suite, named after a former radiologist at the hospital, will allow scanning of patients to be faster, more detailed and more flexible, according to Health Minister Andy Kerr.
The scanner allows the radiologist to visualise in 3D and provides up to 1,000 slices per CT scan of body compared to the old scanner which produced 50.
Mr Kerr said:
"We are investing record amounts for faster patient diagnosis and treatment. Over the last year that investment has started to pay off, with record falls in the number of people waiting for long periods for hospital treatment.
"This scanner gives us another significant step forward. It has several advantages over the previous CT scanner.
"The new facility is more comfortable for patients. The speed of the new scanner helps patients who have difficulty in holding their breath. Acutely ill patients can tolerate the procedure much better.
"The new suite also provides a more relaxing environment for patients and improved facilities for staff. Compared with its predecessor, the scanner is faster, can detect smaller lesions, and allows new procedures such as examination of clots in the lungs and kidney stones and investigation of acute surgical patients.
"And this scanner will help us deliver our target that no patient should wait more than nin weeks for a CT scan by the end of 2007."
Dr Gina McCreath was a consultant radiologist who worked as a consultant radiologist at the Southern General Hospitals then Stobhill Hospital before her death in 2003. Her colleagues asked for the CT suite to be named after her.
The multi-slice CT scanner became operational on June 17, 2005.