A NEW MRI suite has been launched at Southend Hospital with a space theme so scans are less alien for children.

The new Apollo suite is designed to take the fear out of having an important scan, and makes them easier on children and their families.

The suite, which is worth £27,000, features a bed bay which doubles as a pop-up waiting area for children who need to have a scan, as well as room for their carers.

This is surrounded by planet and star designs on the wall, as well as a cosmos-inspired sky ceiling, creating the impression of travelling through the stars.

Young patients are never far from “ground control”, as they can watch and listen to their favourite programmes through a periscope that views a screen as part of an in-scan entertainment system.

The money was raised by the Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation For Wards appeal.

Jacci Dearman, lead paediatric MRI radiographer at Southend Hospital, said: “This project means we are light years ahead in our ability to scan young children.

“Without this set up many of these patients would be unable to cope with having an MRI scan. We’ve now successfully scanned children as young as four, which previously would have been impossible without sedation.”

The new suite launched at the same time as the new hospital building’s ground floor has re-opened to patients following a revamp.

Surgical, medical and orthopaedic staff have created a one-stop shop designed especially for same day emergency care patients, whose treatments need less than a day in hospital.

The new area will welcome 100 patients a day and include eight assessment cubicles.

Patients will be those who need tests, a CT scan, have simple chest pains, need antibiotics or have deep vein thrombosis and need clot busting drugs.