The NHS in England has 125 more CT and MRI scanners than it had in March 2024, and NHS AI MRI software that shortens scan times is now installed on more than half of compatible machines. The government says the two together are “helping deliver around a million extra scans every year”, in an announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England on 3 November.
The figures arrive with NHS England’s latest National Imaging Data Collection, published the same morning. That data backs up the scanner count. The scan totals, the efficiency gain from AI and the longer-term forecast all come from the government’s own release, and each needs to be read for what it is.
In brief
- NHS England data shows 682 MRI and 790 CT scanners at 31 March 2026, up from 624 and 723 two years earlier: 125 more in total.
- AI acceleration software is on 54% of compatible NHS MRI scanners, and the government says it lets services do on average 14% more scans.
- Ministers credit the new machines and the AI together for about a million extra scans a year; a full software rollout is projected to add up to 162,000 checks a year.
NHS England’s data confirms 125 more scanners
The National Imaging Data Collection counts imaging equipment reported by acute and specialist NHS trusts. Its 2025/26 asset count, covering the year to 31 March 2026, lists 682 MRI scanners and 790 CT scanners across England. The 2023/24 count, for the year to 31 March 2024, listed 624 and 723. The difference is 125 machines, the figure in the government’s release.
According to the release, most of the new machines (107 of 125) went into community diagnostic centres, which the release presents as a way of bringing tests closer to home. Those centres carried out nearly 2.2 million CT and MRI scans in the 12 months to March 2026, “an extra million compared to the 12 months up to March 2024”. A new £19.2 million Manchester and Trafford Community Diagnostic Centre officially opened on 29 October.
How NHS AI MRI software adds appointments
The AI element is acceleration software for MRI. The release says it “speeds up scan times as it needs less data to achieve a high-quality image”, so each machine can see more patients a day. It is installed on 54% of compatible NHS MRI scanners, and services using it carry out “on average 14% more scans while maintaining image quality”.
Every NHS trust will be offered the chance to upgrade compatible MRI scanners by 2029. The government says a full rollout “would enable existing equipment to deliver up to 162,000 more checks per year”. That is a forecast of what is possible on machines the NHS already owns, not a result.
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “The 125 new scanners and rollout of AI technology are helping deliver around a million extra scans every year.” Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, said: “The earlier cancer is diagnosed, the more treatment options there are and the better the chance of a successful outcome for patients.” Dr Stephen Harden, President of the Royal College of Radiologists, said it is “vital we have the equipment and workforce to scan, diagnose and treat patients efficiently and safely”.
The million is real, but the AI share is unmeasured
The scanner count holds up: NHS England’s own spreadsheets give the same 125. The million is a sound activity figure for community diagnostic centres. What the release does not show is how much of that million comes from the AI. The minister credits new machines and software together, and the software applies only to MRI, while the million covers CT as well. Most of the growth sits in centres that gained 107 new machines, so additional hardware looks like the larger driver.
The 14% is the government’s own average across services using the software. It comes with no published study, no breakdown by trust or body part and no named supplier, so it cannot yet be checked. The 162,000 figure is a ceiling that depends on every trust taking up the upgrade. Neither number is a reason to doubt the approach; getting more scans from machines the NHS already owns is an attractive way to cut waits. But they are claims, and the NHS should publish the evidence behind them.
For patients, the gain is practical rather than futuristic. This is AI used to make a scan quicker, not to read it, which is a different and less contested job from diagnostic models such as the MRI-based breast cancer risk tool cleared in the US or pathology models that predict tumour gene activity. It sits alongside other cancer tools in our recent Tech for Good round-up.
The 2029 upgrade offer is the test
The next marker is how many trusts take up the MRI software upgrade before 2029, and whether next year’s imaging data shows scan volumes rising on the machines that have it. If the 14% holds across the whole fleet, the NHS gains capacity without buying another scanner.
Sources
- GOV.UK (Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England): “One million more scans to help catch cancer sooner”, 3 November 2026 (government press release)
- NHS England Statistics: “National Imaging Data Collection”, Asset Count 2025-26 published 3 November 2026 (official statistics)
- NHS England: “National Imaging Data Collection – Asset Count 2025-26”, 3 November 2026 (official statistics, XLSX)
Related stories
- Tech for Good This Week: Cancer AI, Hospital Drones and New MXenes
- FDA Clears MRI-Based AI That Scores 10-Year Breast Cancer Return Risk
- Sophont’s Holon-S1 Aims to Predict Tumour Gene Activity From Routine Slides
Follow @tsnmediahub on X for breaking AI news as it happens.
Follow on X
