Three Hjaltland HA staff set for a close shave in February
Three brave ladies from Shetland’s Hjaltland Housing Association are set to have their heads shaved next month to highlight the need for an MRI scanner on the islands.
Leigh-Anne Sinclair, Melanie Dawson and Heidi Andrews are set to have their luscious locks disappear to publicise the fact that over 600 patients from Shetland have to travel to the mainland for an MRI scan each year.
Sinclair, a senior housing officer with the association, said; “Melanie has had a number of health issues over the past year, and if there was an MRI scanner in Shetland she would’ve been able to receive an earlier diagnosis. Also with Shetland being quite a close knit community, we all have friends/relatives or know of someone who has needed to go to Aberdeen for a scan.”
The Shetland Health Board Endowment Fund aims to raise £2 million through a combination of grant funding and a public fundraising campaign for an MRI Scanner, to be located at the Gilbert Bain. This would bring quicker access to diagnostic tests and reduce unnecessary patient travel, stress and inconvenience. The savings in patient travel will be put towards staffing the MRI Scanner.
MRI diagnostics are used to diagnose and monitor a wide variety of conditions and the number of patients who need them is steadily increasing. In Shetland there can be delays in getting an MRI scan due to bad weather, transport delays. There are also logistical problems in getting short notice appointments or one stop clinics. The challenge of making the journey itself, can also be problematic, as it will involve time off work, and impact on family life and child care at an already difficult time.
Supporting the fundraising campaign are Senior Staff Nurses Gwen Angus and Emma Williamson, who work in the Gilbert Bain Accident and Emergency department and star in the Island Medics series.
The trio will be donating their hair to the Little Princess Trust, which provides real hair wigs free of charge to children and young adults up to the age of 24, who have sadly lost their own hair due to cancer treatment and other illnesses.
To donate to the campaign go to https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/leigh-annesinclair1