Long wait for children's MRI scanner just got longer. @nweir1 speaks to distraught family waiting for a scan

Nov 27, 2014, 09:37 AM

A really important story this morning. Just when will the new children's MRI scanner be ready at the Royal Victoria hospital? It's the ONLY specialist hospital in the UK WITHOUT a dedicated scanner. We first brought you the story earlier this year. At that time we were told the scanner would be in place by March 2015. That was a year late. But guess what? It's slipped again. To be fair to the Belfast Trust they say asbestos has been found on the site. But while the scanner is delayed possibly very sick children have to wait for treatment. And today the Nolan Show can reveal that 280 children under the age of 14 are currently missing the target for an important MRI scan. Nolan Show reporter Nicola Weir has been speaking to the father of one of those children. His son was born with health problems 11 years ago and has had ongoing medical care. But a head scan five months ago showed a possible tumour in his nose - and the family is still waiting for an MRI scan to confirm if it's cancer.