Sir Rod Stewart during a visit to the Princess Alexandra Hospital (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod Stewart visited the hospital where he offered to pay for scans after hearing about NHS waiting lists and insisted it’s his duty as ‘a knight’.
The 78-year-old singer had called a live phone-in segment on Sky News last month to offer to pay for people to have hospital scans, and now he’s turned up to his local NHS hospital after helping cut waiting lists.
Arriving in a white Rolls-Royce on a drizzly February day, Sir Rod greeted everyone outside Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex and spoke to the broadcaster about the impact he hopes to have.
‘Hopefully these are people that are finding trouble to get a scan, either because of the backlog or lack of finances. So, here I am, a knight in shining armour,’ he quipped.
‘And I am a knight, by the way. That’s why I want to do good things. I’m not doing it for publicity, I get enough of that.’
Wearing a cream roll-neck jumper, knee-length coat, black trousers and dark blue trainers, he shook hands with a series of NHS staff outside a mobile MRI scanning unit and posed for photographs.
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The legendary musician posed for a selfie with medics (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod also met Omarie Ryan, who received an MRI scan on his left knee (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
He joked ‘let’s all have a sing-song’ and signed his autograph for a fan, before speaking to reporters and explaining how he came to pay for a day of scans at his local hospital.
He said: ‘I had just come from my scan in a private clinic near Harley Street. I walked in and said, “I’m terribly sorry I’m half hour late”. They said, “Don’t worry, there’s hardly anybody in here today”.
‘There were eight people with hardly anything to do. Then I thought this is a terrible injustice, so here we are.’
He added he wasn’t there ‘to talk about politics, please, because otherwise it overshadows what we’re trying to do’.
The singer wanted to prove he was ‘not all mouth and trousers’ (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA)
Sir Rod is hoping others follow his example (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod, who has had six number one hits in the UK charts, said he would like to pay for scans elsewhere too, hoping to push the project out to cities like Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester while encouraging other people to ‘follow’ his lead.
‘Because I want to prove I’m not all mouth and trousers and that’s why I’m here to prove that I followed through with it, ok folks,’ he said. ‘There must be enough money in the coffers to pay up for these nurses – only two years ago we were clapping and now… Bless them, they work so hard, salt of the earth’
Pressed on the state of the NHS, the pop star added: ‘We’ve got to sort this out, really. We’re in dire straits. If I am going to get political, I think we should send the Ukrainians F-16s.
The star was in good spirits (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
‘It’s up to you, Prime Minister. I’ve been supporting them for years, Ukrainians. On stage I have the flag and I wear a blue and yellow suit and do a song and dedicate it to them.
‘I feel very strongly about it. If the Ukrainians lose it’s the end of civilisation as we know it, it’s all over.’
After speaking to reporters, Sir Rod climbed the steps to the mobile MRI scanning unit – which was positioned outside the hospital – and waited behind the exit door to surprise a patient.
As patient Omarie Ryan went to leave the unit, the Forever Young singer said ‘behind the door’ and moved his hand into sight for a handshake, before posing for selfies with 36-year-old Mr. Ryan, who had travelled from London for a routine left knee scan.
The star said: ‘So this is my first customer! All good pal? You take care of yourself, stay healthy, alright mate.’
To laughter from the gathered crowd, he joked: ‘And I have a new CD coming out in five weeks!’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Who’s on strike today and how will it affect you? Daily update for February 24
Sir Rod Stewart during a visit to the Princess Alexandra Hospital (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod Stewart visited the hospital where he offered to pay for scans after hearing about NHS waiting lists and insisted it’s his duty as ‘a knight’.
The 78-year-old singer had called a live phone-in segment on Sky News last month to offer to pay for people to have hospital scans, and now he’s turned up to his local NHS hospital after helping cut waiting lists.
Arriving in a white Rolls-Royce on a drizzly February day, Sir Rod greeted everyone outside Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex and spoke to the broadcaster about the impact he hopes to have.
‘Hopefully these are people that are finding trouble to get a scan, either because of the backlog or lack of finances. So, here I am, a knight in shining armour,’ he quipped.
‘And I am a knight, by the way. That’s why I want to do good things. I’m not doing it for publicity, I get enough of that.’
Wearing a cream roll-neck jumper, knee-length coat, black trousers and dark blue trainers, he shook hands with a series of NHS staff outside a mobile MRI scanning unit and posed for photographs.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
The legendary musician posed for a selfie with medics (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod also met Omarie Ryan, who received an MRI scan on his left knee (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
He joked ‘let’s all have a sing-song’ and signed his autograph for a fan, before speaking to reporters and explaining how he came to pay for a day of scans at his local hospital.
He said: ‘I had just come from my scan in a private clinic near Harley Street. I walked in and said, “I’m terribly sorry I’m half hour late”. They said, “Don’t worry, there’s hardly anybody in here today”.
‘There were eight people with hardly anything to do. Then I thought this is a terrible injustice, so here we are.’
He added he wasn’t there ‘to talk about politics, please, because otherwise it overshadows what we’re trying to do’.
The singer wanted to prove he was ‘not all mouth and trousers’ (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA)
Sir Rod is hoping others follow his example (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
Sir Rod, who has had six number one hits in the UK charts, said he would like to pay for scans elsewhere too, hoping to push the project out to cities like Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester while encouraging other people to ‘follow’ his lead.
‘Because I want to prove I’m not all mouth and trousers and that’s why I’m here to prove that I followed through with it, ok folks,’ he said. ‘There must be enough money in the coffers to pay up for these nurses – only two years ago we were clapping and now… Bless them, they work so hard, salt of the earth’
Pressed on the state of the NHS, the pop star added: ‘We’ve got to sort this out, really. We’re in dire straits. If I am going to get political, I think we should send the Ukrainians F-16s.
The star was in good spirits (Picture: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)
‘It’s up to you, Prime Minister. I’ve been supporting them for years, Ukrainians. On stage I have the flag and I wear a blue and yellow suit and do a song and dedicate it to them.
‘I feel very strongly about it. If the Ukrainians lose it’s the end of civilisation as we know it, it’s all over.’
After speaking to reporters, Sir Rod climbed the steps to the mobile MRI scanning unit – which was positioned outside the hospital – and waited behind the exit door to surprise a patient.
As patient Omarie Ryan went to leave the unit, the Forever Young singer said ‘behind the door’ and moved his hand into sight for a handshake, before posing for selfies with 36-year-old Mr. Ryan, who had travelled from London for a routine left knee scan.
The star said: ‘So this is my first customer! All good pal? You take care of yourself, stay healthy, alright mate.’
To laughter from the gathered crowd, he joked: ‘And I have a new CD coming out in five weeks!’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Who’s on strike today and how will it affect you? Daily update for February 24
MORE : Sir Rod Stewart calls into Sky News and offers to pay for life-saving scans after hearing heartbreaking NHS crisis stories: ‘I’ve never seen it so bad’
