History was made today as Bradford's £1 million state-of-the-art MRI Scanner swung into action for the first time.

The machine, bought as a result of the Telegraph & Argus Millennium Scanner Appeal, took its first patients this morning.

Computers and a powerful magnetic field generated by the world class machine at Bradford Royal Infirmary created its first scans using the latest technology which will transform the care of thousands of people in the district.

The switch-on came less than two years after the whole city joined a massive effort to raise money for the appeal in the biggest money-spinning campaign ever both by the newspaper and the hospital.

Today's first patient was mother-of-two Beverley Alderson, 39, of Clayton, who was undergoing a head scan.

Beverley's examination was ordered by specialists after she collapsed at work in the call centre at mail order giant Grattan in Bradford last year and was rushed to hospital.

The chairman of Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, Linda Pollard, said today: "There have been many important developments in the local NHS over the past 50 years and this moment must rank as one of the most significant of them. "Our dream has today turned into reality.

"After 18 months of hard work raising such a large sum of money, the people of Bradford can now start reaping the benefits. The new scanner generates a hat-trick of improvements for the local community - we are able to scan more patients, more locally and more quickly."

Mrs Alderson said she has had to wait since the end of last year for the scan because there was a long wait for MRI work in Leeds.

A CT scan had failed to reveal the cause of her problem and she said she hoped the MRI scanner would shed further light.

"I wasn't looking forward to going to Leeds because I wouldn't have had a clue where I was going," she said.

"Hopefully this will give us a definite answer about what caused it."

Hospital chief executive David Jackson said the MRI scanner was the single most expensive piece of hospital equipment ever installed in Bradford.

"I am delighted for the people of Bradford that their hard work has been rewarded with the most advanced machine that money can buy.

"The new scanner really does propel us into the 21st century.

"Now it is operational, our next step is to develop Bradford's reputation in this field of medical technology so that the district is not viewed as living in the shadow of other centres such as Leeds and Manchester."

T&A Opinion

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