Fears for NHS patients’ safety as eight in ten hospitals are relying on outdated medical equipment
NHS England advises scanners should be replaced every ten years to ensure reliable images and accurate diagnoses.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged to install modern equipment.
Yet 38 of the 48 hospital trusts contacted use X-ray machines more than ten years old — and at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust one machine dates back 30 years.
More than 20 trusts rely on ageing MRI scanners — a hospital trust in Plymouth still uses an 18-year-old machine.
Source: Irish Sun, 29 December 2025