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| Patient's 150-mile trip due to Colchester Hospital's 'small' MRI scanner | Patient's 150-mile trip due to Colchester Hospital's 'small' MRI scanner |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A hospital patient who is unable to fit inside an "outdated" MRI scanner has said he is forced to do a 150 mile (241km) round trip for treatment. | A hospital patient who is unable to fit inside an "outdated" MRI scanner has said he is forced to do a 150 mile (241km) round trip for treatment. |
| Laurie Seaborn, 71, from West Bergholt, Essex, who is 6ft 6in (1.98m) tall, cannot fit inside Colchester General Hospital's MRI scanner and instead has to travel to Croydon. | |
| He is calling on Colchester's managers to get a "decent-sized" MRI scanner. | He is calling on Colchester's managers to get a "decent-sized" MRI scanner. |
| The hospital has apologised for the "inconvenience this causes". | The hospital has apologised for the "inconvenience this causes". |
| Mr Seaborn said he damaged his knee, back, head and neck in a motorbike accident 43 years ago and has been receiving treatment ever since. | |
| He is awaiting an MRI scan for a problem with his spine but says he is too "broad-shouldered" to fit in the scanner at Colchester or a mobile unit. | He is awaiting an MRI scan for a problem with his spine but says he is too "broad-shouldered" to fit in the scanner at Colchester or a mobile unit. |
| Mr Seaborn, who weighs about 20 stone, said the situation was "unacceptable". | |
| "It was a proper emergency ambulance that had to take me there - there was a driver, his assistant and a chaperone to take me there and back," he said. | "It was a proper emergency ambulance that had to take me there - there was a driver, his assistant and a chaperone to take me there and back," he said. |
| "I think the hospital ought to get their act together and get this thing sorted out as soon as possible, because everyone knows the NHS is in dire straits, and surely this is adding insult to injury." | "I think the hospital ought to get their act together and get this thing sorted out as soon as possible, because everyone knows the NHS is in dire straits, and surely this is adding insult to injury." |
| A spokesman for Colchester General Hospital said: "As far as we are aware, there is not a single NHS hospital in Essex which currently has a wide-bore MRI scanner for scanning larger patients. | A spokesman for Colchester General Hospital said: "As far as we are aware, there is not a single NHS hospital in Essex which currently has a wide-bore MRI scanner for scanning larger patients. |
| "Therefore, about 10 of our patients a year who are either too heavy for the table or too wide for the scanner have to travel further afield for their MRI scan. This is about half the number of patients who have to travel to be scanned in a wide-bore or open MRI scanner because they have claustrophobia. | "Therefore, about 10 of our patients a year who are either too heavy for the table or too wide for the scanner have to travel further afield for their MRI scan. This is about half the number of patients who have to travel to be scanned in a wide-bore or open MRI scanner because they have claustrophobia. |
| "We will look at the needs of all patients requiring MRI scans when the current arrangement for providing this service expires." | "We will look at the needs of all patients requiring MRI scans when the current arrangement for providing this service expires." |