FUNDRAISING for a new piece of hospital equipment has reached a quarter of the amount needed.

A donation of £250 from a volunteer porter on the radiology ward at Basingstoke hospital has seen funds reach £25,000 for a new SPEC/CT scanner.

The money is being raised to replace a currently 17-year-old piece of equipment, which is limited to 2D capabilities due to its age.

The new scanner, which is the latest in technology and can be used to highlight a variety of diseases in addition to cancer, produces 3D images which allows for the anatomy, as well as the functionality of body systems, to be studied, offering a more accurate and detailed diagnosis.

The equipment will cost £865,000; however, the North Hampshire Medical Fund is aiming to fundraise to contribute £100,000 towards it by the end of this year.

The latest donation which tipped the total over the quarter way point was from Tim Moxey, who works for Achilles Information Ltd. Following his volunteering on the ward, his company put £250 in the kitty.

Mr Moxey said: “I absolutely love volunteering at the hospital. The porter role that I’m in is rather specialist, it required three days’ training and is extremely varied.

“We help people in all sorts of situations from regular appointments, to big emergencies. I’ve met some really inspiring people, and the job has been extremely rewarding.”

Anne Mitchell, from the North Hampshire Medical Fund, said: “Replacing the scanner is vital, if the current scanner was to fail it would be catastrophic for many services that rely on this service and also have a significant financial impact as patients will be sent to other organisations, and will lose some complete patient episodes to those organisations.”

For more information, go to nhmedicalfund.org.