 Dr Eryl Thomas says having an idle scanner is frustrating |
A new scanning machine to diagnose cancer cannot be used because there is no money to pay for staff, a health minister was told on Monday. Rosie Winterton officially opened new facilities costing more than �3m at the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston.
She said it showed the extra NHS funding was making a real difference.
But consultant radiologist Dr Eryl Thomas told her one of the three new scanners could not be used as there was no funding to staff it.
The expanded and updated scanner has two new �500,000 CT machines and one new MRI scanner, which are faster and create a large number of images that are clearer and more effective.
 |  We have a huge waiting list and a lot of patients need urgent scans and it is just desperately frustrating for us because we just cannot scan them |
But Dr Thomas, lead consultant radiologist for the scanning suite, said the shortage of staff made it very frustrating.
"You will see that at the moment the scanner is lying idle.
"We have a huge waiting list and a lot of patients need urgent scans and it is just desperately frustrating for us because we just cannot scan them," Dr Thomas said.
The unused scanner cost �500,000 but the money for staff comes from a different budget, which currently has little cash available.
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