PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
MRI SCAN WAITING TIMES (8 December 2005)

That this House expresses great concern at the mounting crisis in the National Health Service over unacceptable waiting times for essential MRI scans in many parts of the UK; notes that research has found patients waiting six months or more at two in five NHS trusts and a year or longer at one in five NHS trusts for MRI scans, which are used to detect brain tumours, cancers and serious heart conditions; further notes that of the 60 per cent. of trusts who reported having received scans from mobile MRI units as part of the Government's contract with Alliance Medical, 45 per cent. believed that they had been forced to reduce capacity or forgo growth to accommodate this involvement with the private sector; condemns the enforced mothballing of expensive scanning equipment due to lack of trained staff and funding; and calls on the Government to act now to tackle the problem of hidden waiting times for vital scans and to publish information on how long people are waiting on the NHS for tests and scans as soon as possible.

Sponsored by:
Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat)