§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number and percentage of MRI scanners that are used for fewer than(a) five and (b) two days a week. [101206]
§ Ms BlearsData are not collected centrally by the Department about the number of days per week that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are operational. However, an Audit Commission report on radiology, published in July 2002, showed that almost all MRI scanners in the national health service were operated for more than eight hours per day.
A total of 705,706 MRI investigations were carried out at NHS hospitals in 2001–02 and a breakdown of this total by NHS trust is available in the following publication:
Source:
"Department of Health: Imaging & Radiodiagnostics, England, Financial Year 2001–2002. KH12 return".
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mobile MRI scanners there are(a) in the NHS and (b) in the private sector. [101209]
§ Ms BlearsThere is one mobile magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner that is owned by the national health service and this facility is shared between University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and South Warwickshire General Hospitals NHS Trust. The MRI scanner on board the mobile was provided as part of the New Opportunities Fund living with cancer initiative.
There are a further 28 mobile MRI scanners that are available for hire by NHS hospitals on a contractual basis. These are owned by private sector and charitable organisations and are also offered for hire to the non-NHS sector.