§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the existing capacity for MRI scanning for NHS patients in the(a) public and (b) private sectors; and if he will make a statement. [137083]
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§ Miss Melanie JohnsonPast under-funding of the national health service led to the inadequate provision of essential diagnostic equipment, unevenly distributed across the country. The Government are committed to putting right this under-investment and is providing unprecedented levels of central funding to expand capacity and replace ageing equipment.
There are currently 207 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners installed in the NHS in England, compared with 110 machines in 1997, representing an 88 per cent. increase in total numbers. By December 2004, this will increase further to approximately 276 MRI scanners, a 150 per cent. increase on 1997.
There are approximately 60 MRI scanners in private hospitals in England. The private sector is only able to provide a small amount of additional capacity for the NHS. The utilisation of any radiology equipment is dependent on the availability of skilled staff. Both the NHS and private sector use staff from the same work force pool.
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§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time for MRI scans in England was in each of the last 10 years, broken down by region. [137084]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonData on waiting times for diagnostic tests are not collected centrally.