Rod Stewart Kept His Promise to Pay for Hospital Scans

The scene was a familiar one: someone sitting and listening to a political talk show, frustrated by the news about a crisis in their country and vowing to do something about it. In the case of people being unable to get MRIs in the U.K., the person tuning in was a position to do more than fume about it. That’s because the listener was Rod Stewart, and he has quite a bit of money on hand.

In January, Stewart called in to the Sky News program Your Say and offered to pay for M.R.I.s for people who were unable to get them — and shared some harsh words with the current British government. Stewart is, in fact, a man of his word — and The Guardian reported from Essex’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, where Stewart had paid for a mobile M.R.I. to come and perform scans to reduce the hospital’s waiting list.

As the hospital’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Lawton, told The Guardian, this act reduced their waiting list by 10%. As for Stewart, he said that he’d like to do this in other locations — and hopes that he can inspire others to do the same.

Rod Stewart Offers to Pay for Hospital Scans in U.K.

He also expressed his frustration with the current government

“If this is a big success, which I think it will be, I’d like to do it in Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, and just keep it going, and hope some other people follow me,” he told The Guardian.