NHS machines badly outdated

VITAL lifesaving NHS equipment is outdated because of Tory cuts to budgets, Labour will reveal today.

Research found 892 X-ray devices were more than 10 years old, with 139 past their replacement dates.

And 295 ultrasound machines were more than a decade old, with 134 past their replacement dates. Many MRI and CT scanners were also obsolete.

One X-ray machine from 1984 was still in use with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, while a 1992 ultrasound machine was in service in Oxford.

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth said: “Patients deserve better.”