An apparatus for obtaining a scanned image of a part of a first and a second patient comprising: a plurality of rooms (41, 42) including at least a first room for the first patient and a second room for the second patient; a surgical patient support table which remains in place in the first room arranged for the process of surgery on the first patient; a magnetic resonance imaging system for obtaining images of the part of the first and second patients, the magnetic resonance imaging system comprising a magnet for use with a control system for controlling and varying the magnetic fields, a radio frequency transmission and detection system for eliciting and detecting from the part of the first and second patients nuclear magnetic resonance signals, in response to the magnetic fields, including an RF probe arranged to be located adjacent to the part of the first and second patients and a computer and display monitor for decoding and displaying the detected signals; the magnet having a cylindrical bore, and a corresponding horizontal axis, into which the surgical patient support table and the first patient thereon can be positioned to allow imaging to occur, arranged such that the part of the first patient is positioned in the bore so as to lie in the magnetic field of the magnet while the first patient is located in place on the surgical patient support table; a rail system on which the magnet is mounted for movement longitudinally along said horizontal axis; the rail system including a support on which is carried a slew ring on which the magnet is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis through an angle of at least 180 degrees; a diagnostic table for diagnostic imaging of the second patient extending from one side of the magnet which is attached to the magnet; the magnet and its bore being movable in the first room longitudinally along the rail system relative to the surgical patient support table from a position in which a part of the surgical patient support table and at least a part of the first patient thereon is received within the bore for surgical imaging to be carried out on the first patient, to a position in which the magnet is removed from an end of the surgical patient support table for surgery to continue; the magnet and its bore being rotatable on the slew ring in the second room to positions for imaging; the diagnostic table being movable in the second room in and out of the magnet for diagnostic imaging to be carried out on the second patient. a plurality of rooms (41, 42) including at least a first room for the first patient and a second room for the second patient; a surgical patient support table which remains in place in the first room arranged for the process of surgery on the first patient; a magnetic resonance imaging system for obtaining images of the part of the first and second patients, the magnetic resonance imaging system comprising a magnet for use with a control system for controlling and varying the magnetic fields, a radio frequency transmission and detection system for eliciting and detecting from the part of the first and second patients nuclear magnetic resonance signals, in response to the magnetic fields, including an RF probe arranged to be located adjacent to the part of the first and second patients and a computer and display monitor for decoding and displaying the detected signals; the magnet having a cylindrical bore, and a corresponding horizontal axis, into which the surgical patient support table and the first patient thereon can be positioned to allow imaging to occur, arranged such that the part of the first patient is positioned in the bore so as to lie in the magnetic field of the magnet while the first patient is located in place on the surgical patient support table; a rail system on which the magnet is mounted for movement longitudinally along said horizontal axis; the rail system including a support on which is carried a slew ring on which the magnet is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis through an angle of at least 180 degrees; a diagnostic table for diagnostic imaging of the second patient extending from one side of the magnet which is attached to the magnet; the magnet and its bore being movable in the first room longitudinally along the rail system relative to the surgical patient support table from a position in which a part of the surgical patient support table and at least a part of the first patient thereon is received within the bore for surgical imaging to be carried out on the first patient, to a position in which the magnet is removed from an end of the surgical patient support table for surgery to continue; the magnet and its bore being rotatable on the slew ring in the second room to positions for imaging; the diagnostic table being movable in the second room in and out of the magnet for diagnostic imaging to be carried out on the second patient.