Current status: Answered by Susan Deacon on 17 August 1999
To ask the Scottish Executive what Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) facilities are available to patients in the Tayside area, the location of the facilities, how long the facilities have been in place, and how the current provision compares to the provision of MRI facilities in the periods 1996-1997 and 1997-1998.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for patients from across Tayside is provided by 2 MRI scanners at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee: one machine was installed in November 1998; and the other was redeployed in January 1999 as part of the transfer of services from Dundee Royal Infirmary. In 1997 and 1998 there was one scanner at Dundee Royal Infirmary and a mobile MRI unit in service one day each fortnight in the former Angus NHS Trust area. The mobile unit was withdrawn in April 1999 after the installation of the new scanner at Ninewells Hospital.