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NHS hospitals across the country are filled with outdated medical equipment, with some dating back to the 1980s, according to new research.
The research, which was conducted by the Liberal Democrats, found that 541 X-ray machines, CT and MRI scanners and radiotherapy treatment machines are over a decade old, with the oldest piece of equipment being an X-ray machine owned by Bedfordshire Hospitals Trust that is a staggering 37 years old.
However, trusts across the country were found to house outdated equipment, with MRI scanners and CT scanners found to be nearly 20 years old in some parts of the country.
In fact, of the 69 NHS hospital trusts who provided figures in response to Freedom of Information requests, over half (41) had at least one X-ray machine that was over 20 years old.
NHS spending millions on maintaining old medical equipment
Rather than investing in new medical equipment, the NHS is paying millions of pounds to maintain this old equipment. In the past three years, the NHS has spent almost £20 million maintaining old X-ray machines and scanners.
All medical equipment has a life span and the potential for error grows significantly when poor quality, older machines are used.
Linear accelerators, for example, which are used in radiotherapy, have a 10-year life span. However, a separate parliamentary question found 20 of the country’s 268 linear accelerators were still being used being passed their ‘expiration’ date.
Ahead of the Chancellor’s Spring Budget announcement last week, the NHS Confederation published five priorities for government investment. Among these, was NHS infrastructure.
The Confederation says that increasing NHS capital investment will boost productivity, support the NHS to get through its care backlogs and ensure patients can access the best possible treatment and support.
However, successive UK governments have failed to invest enough in capital, and capital spending on NHS infrastructure, estates and maintenance remains behind other developed countries.
The Confederation says capital funding that has already been agreed needs to get through to the frontline more quickly, as currently, too much money is allocated late in the financial year or long after it was initially announced.
Patients deserve first-class treatment
The Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey is now calling on the government to invest in NHS infrastructure to ensure that patients get the best care possible.
He said: “It beggars belief that NHS staff are having to rely on results from decades-old hospital scanners, machinery that may have been built before they were even born.
“Understaffed and exhausted NHS staff are being pushed to breaking point, while patients are treated in crumbling hospitals with outdated equipment.
“The potential for error from poor quality machines doesn’t bear thinking about. People up and down the country will be worried about whether they will get an accurate reading from these decades-old machines.
“The government must give hospitals the capital funding they need to invest in newer equipment, so patients can get the first-class treatment they deserve.”