# UK scanner shortage risks delayed dementia diagnoses and restricted treatment access

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/dementia-patients-risk-missing-out-on-timely-diagnosis-and-breakthrough-drugs-due-to-critical-shortage-of-brain-scanners/
- Published: 2026-11-15T22:03:50+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T22:20:49+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16294185/dementia-diagnosis-drugs-scanners.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Health, Medicine, UK, World

## Key points

- The UK has the lowest scanner rate among 16 comparable economies.
- Scanner access varies nearly three-fold between English NHS areas.
- Radiologist shortages could constrain diagnosis and treatment access.

## Summary

A shortage of brain scanners in the UK could delay dementia diagnoses and limit access to newer treatments, according to analysis by Alzheimer's Society. The charity says the UK has the lowest rate of MRI, CT and PET scanners among 16 comparable developed economies, leaving the NHS poorly placed to assess patients promptly or support wider use of treatments if NHS access changes.

In England, only two in three people with dementia have a formal diagnosis, and scanner availability varies widely between NHS areas. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent has 13 MRI and CT scanners per million people, compared with 35 in North Central London; the charity estimates 1,800 more scanners would be needed to match France’s rate. Lecanemab and donanemab require regular brain scans and work best early in the disease, while a reported 32 per cent shortfall in consultant radiologists could also limit diagnostic capacity.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.