Rod Stewart visited his local NHS hospital in Harlow, Essex yesterday (Friday February 24) and paid for a day’s worth of MRI scans to help reduce the waiting lists.
The artist said he wanted to prove that he wasn’t “all mouth and no trousers” amid his recent comments about the state of the NHS. He also said he wanted to pay for scans elsewhere in the UK.
According to the Princess Alexandra Hospital’s chief operating officer, Stephanie Lawton, Stewart’s donation cut their waiting list for MRI scans by 10 per cent. In total, 20 patients were able to receive their scans that day thanks to Stewart’s help.
Stewart called into aĀ Sky NewsĀ phone-in last month where he decried the state of the NHS, criticising the “ridiculous” waiting lists which are currently some of the longest on record. It was during this conversation that he pledged to pay for scans to help cut the waiting lists.
Stewart said he was inspired to make the gesture after getting a scan himself in a private clinic in Harley Street.
āI walked in and said, āIām terribly sorry, Iām half an hour late.ā They said, āDonāt worry, thereās hardly anybody in here today,” he explained.Ā āThere were eight people with hardly anything to do. Then I thought this is a terrible injustice, so here we are.ā
He continued: āIf this is a big success, which I think it will be, Iād like to do it in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, and just keep it going, and hope some other people follow me. Because I want to prove Iām not all mouth and trousers and thatās why Iām here to prove that I followed through with it, OK folks.ā

Samir Hussein / Getty
Stewart also commented on nurses’ pay amid recent strikes. āThere must be enough money in the coffers to pay up for these nurses ā only two years ago we were clapping and now ā¦ bless them, they work so hard, salt of the earth.ā He previously said he was “on the side” of striking workers.
On the NHS, he said: āWeāve got to sort this out, really. Weāre in dire straits. If I am going to get political, I think we should send the Ukrainians F-16s. Itās up to you, prime minister.ā
Lawton added: āRodās a local resident, weāre his local hospital, weāre really delighted to be working with him and his team for the benefit of patients and doing everything we can to reduce the waiting lists.ā
Stewart was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019 but was clear now āsimply because I caught it early,ā stressing the importance of early diagnosis for successful treatment.
During theĀ Sky NewsĀ phone-in, he said that despite being a long-time Conservative voter, the current government “should stand down and give the Labour Party a go” in a bid to solve the crisis.
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