§ Mr. KnapmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell), 3 December 1991,Official Report, column 128, if he will set out the terms of his letter in the Official Report.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe text of my letter is as follows
During Health Questions on 3 December I said I would write with details of the number of magnetic resonance imagers available in England and Wales.At present there are 45 magnetic resonance scanners in use in England and Wales, 13 of these are in the private sector but all can be used for NHS patients if the health authority and the 'owner' agree. That, of course, was never feasible under the old funding system of the NHS.There was a grand total of two machines in England and Wales in 1979; both in experimental stage and not available for routine NHS use. I think you have helped me to draw attention to yet another area of rapid growth in the NHS under this Government!