Funding For Medical Equipment

Main Category: MRI / PET / Ultrasound
Also Included In: Radiology / Nuclear Medicine;  Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 22 May 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Health boards across Scotland will share £30 million in funding for new medical equipment this year.

The money will allow them to purchase equipment ranging from blood pressure monitors to ultrasound equipment, mobile X-ray machines, endoscopes and MRI scanners.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison said the funding meant patients across Scotland would continue to benefit from state-of-the-art healthcare.

Ms Robison today visited the New Victoria Hospital in Glasgow to see a new £1.1 million MRI scanner bought with last year's medical equipment funding being installed.

She said: "This funding for medical equipment will ensure that patients across Scotland continue to benefit from state-of-the-art facilities.

"Up-to-the-minute technology is crucial for effective diagnosis and treatment and this funding will allow NHS boards right across the country to purchase equipment ranging from specialised care beds to expensive scanners. And it means our NHS staff working on the frontline will have the equipment they need to carry out their jobs most effectively."

The investment forms part of this year's record investment in NHS Scotland of £11.09 billion, but is additional to the £8.64 billion of this which has gone to NHS boards in revenue and capital funding for 2009-10.

Referring to the newly-installed MRI scanner at the New Victoria Hospital, Andrew Robertson, Chairman of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said:

"This is the first time that south east Glasgow patients have been able to directly access a MRI scan, and the first time also they have had local access to renal dialysis and chemotherapy.

"The superlative facilities, staff and equipment of the New Victoria show the reality of what can be achieved by using national funding to transform local services."

Source
Nexxus, Scotland