Written question asked by Lord Beamish (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 July 2005. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 October 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Alliance Medical

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 July 2005, Official Report, column 1138W, on MRI scans (Durham), what consultations were carried out with local NHS trusts on utilisation rates of scanners prior to the award of the contract to Alliance Medical.

Answer: A capacity planning exercise was conducted with strategic health authorities in 2004.The additional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) capacity commissioned nationally from Alliance Medical Ltd. was designed to complement existing national health service services and to quickly bring on stream additional capacity to help meet rising demand for MRI examinations and to begin to address waits for MRI imaging services.Utilisation rates of NHS scanners are a matter for NHS trusts, in partnership with their local primary care trusts as service commissioners. While the independent sector has a key part to play, NHS providers of diagnostics services also need to ensure that they are using their diagnostic capacity to the full.

Secondary information