NHS Forth Valley Responds to Chris’ Calls to Release Information on Hospital Equipment.

NHS Forth Valley has released the numbers and ages of various hospital equipment following Chris’ calls for them to do so last month.

This follows a freedom of information request that revealed that NHS Scotland is relying on decades-old hospital equipment across the country. NHS Tayside, which covers Strathallan, revealed it had an MRI scanner, a CT scanner and two X-ray machines that were more than 15 years old. NHS Grampian has an X-ray machine which is 27 years old.

An independent report to NHS bosses in England recommended that CT and MRI machines that are over 10 years old should be retired.

You can read the previous article here.

The picture across Scotland looks bleak with many NHS boards relying on old equipment. However, NHS Forth Valley was the only board that failed to respond to the Freedom of Information request. Leaving patients in the dark as to the standard of their equipment.

Chris wrote to NHS Forth Valley in March demanding they release these figures, and last week he received a response. Confirming NHS Forth Valley’s oldest MRI and X-ray scanners are six years old and their oldest CT Scanner is eight years old. Which is under the recommended 10-year life span.

Chris, commenting on the situation, stated, “I am glad that NHS Forth Valley has now responded to my request for information, and I welcome that their machines are under the recommended retirment age.”

“However, across Scotland, we can see the rot start to set in to our NHS. 18 years of incompetence and neglect have allowed our health service to deteriorate with out-of-date equipment and growing waiting lists”

“The UK Government has provided Scotland with a record budget settlement, it is time for the Scottish Government to start investing in the latest technology, reducing waiting times and delivering the fast, accurate diagnoses that patients deserve.”