Charing Cross Outpatients Could Face Journey to Other Hospitals
During installation of new state of the art MRI scanner starting this week
Dr Amrish Mehta says new scanners will improve patient experience and reduce waiting times
August 25, 2025
Charing Cross Hospital outpatients requiring MRI scans may face a journey to other centres from this week.
These temporary measures are being put in place during the installation of a new state-of-the-art MRI scanner at Charing Cross.
The Fulham Palace Road hospital says it is replacing one of its three existing scanners, which is now 15 years old. It adds that this is the second scanner to be replaced in the past 12 months, helping to improve diagnostic capability and ultimately reduce waiting times.
The preparatory works are set to start this Wednesday, 27 August, and the hospital aims to have the new scanner operational in early 2026.
Charing Cross Hospital says, “ To ensure we maintain MRI capacity during the preparatory works and installation, outpatient MRI care will be provided via mobile MRI scanners at St Mary's and Charing Cross hospitals as well via main scanners at Hammersmith Hospital and Ealing Community Diagnostic Centre for this period.
“ We will continue MRI care for acute patients at Charing Cross using one of our existing MRI scanners, which was installed earlier this year.
“ The new scanner is the latest generation Philips ‘Ambition’ model, one of the most advanced scanners available. It offers a much wider range of scans and significantly improved images, which will improve our diagnostic capability and give us the ability to tailor scans more closely to patients’ needs.
“ It will also reduce down-time, allowing us to see more patients, and is almost free of helium (a finite resource).”
The MRI unit has also been upgraded, with the hospital saying it is now far more patient friendly in terms of comfort and information, with multiple languages catered for with regard to instructions and scan progress.
Charing Cross Hospital is set to be a reference centre for the new Ambition model, which will ensure ongoing software updates and training for staff.
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is also planning to replace two further scanners with the latest models, one more at Charing Cross and a second at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington and says these improvements are part of a wider £115m estate investment plan for 2025/26.
You can read more about these plans across the Trust’s hospitals - Charing Cross, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea, St Mary’s and Western Eye on this link.
Dr Amrish Mehta, consultant radiologist and director of women’s, cardiac, clinical support and sexual health services at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said, “This will be the second state-of-the-art MRI scanner we’ve replaced in the past twelve months, with two further planned across our hospitals.
“The advanced technology will improve our diagnostic capability and quality significantly. I hope this will both improve the experience for our patients and ultimately help reduce waiting times.
“Huge thank you to the many teams involved in this important project, including everyone helping us maintain MRI capacity during the installation.”
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