The NHS in England has 125 more CT and MRI scanners than in March 2024, helping deliver about a million extra scans a year, figures showed on Tuesday.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that NHS England figures show the number of CT and MRI scanners rose by 125 between March 2024 and March 2026.
Of the 125 new machines, 107 went into community diagnostic centres. Those centres carried out nearly 2.2 million CT and MRI scans in the 12 months to March 2026, an extra million compared with the 12 months to March 2024.
Minister of State for Health Karin Smyth said the government is expanding NHS capacity and using new technology “in the face of record demand” to help more people get the tests and care they need.
AI-powered MRI technology is helping services carry out on average 14 per cent more scans while maintaining image quality. The department said it also lets patients spend less time in scanners.
AI acceleration software is installed in 54 per cent of compatible NHS MRI scanners. It needs less data to produce a high-quality image, so more patients can be scanned on each machine every day.
Every NHS trust will be given the opportunity to upgrade compatible MRI scanners by 2029. A full rollout would enable existing equipment to deliver up to 162,000 more checks a year.
The new £19.2 million Manchester and Trafford community diagnostic centre officially opened on 29 October and was presented as an example of bringing tests closer to home.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer, said getting answers sooner “can make a real difference” to people worried about cancer.
Dr Stephen Harden, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said demand for scans is rising and that both equipment and workforce are needed to scan, diagnose and treat patients safely. The college was “pleased to see” newer and AI-enabled scanners being rolled out, he said.
NHS England’s monthly diagnostic waiting times statistics show how much of the backlog remains. At the end of July 2026, 443,200 patients had waited six weeks or more from referral for one of 15 key tests, 23.1 per cent of everyone waiting.
That was 61,100 more than in July 2025.
The standard is that no more than 1 per cent of patients wait six weeks or more. In July, 129 of the 134 acute trusts that submitted data missed it, and the standard was last met nationally in November 2013.
The total diagnostic waiting list stood at 1,915,300, up 167,800 or 9.6 per cent on July 2025. Some 2,719,900 of the key tests were performed in July, up 70,900 or 2.7 per cent on a year earlier, with CT the busiest at 839,600.
CT had the lowest share of patients waiting six weeks or more, at 9.9 per cent. For MRI the share was 21.4 per cent, up from 16.8 per cent in July 2025.
The department said each month of 2026 so far has set a monthly record for diagnostic activity and that the diagnostic waiting list has fallen in three of the five months since April.
It added that the elective care waiting list is down by more than 250,000 since July 2024.
For patients, NHS guidance says an MRI scan usually takes between 15 minutes and one hour, and results usually take between one and two weeks to reach the referring doctor.