Health authorities have defended the use of medical imaging machines deemed to be beyond the end of useful life saying the machines still work and are operating effectively.
There are 14 medical imaging machines past their end of useful life at Canberra Hospital, there are a total of 39 machines at the hospital, an answer to question on notice has revealed.
Machines that have reached the end of useful life include several X-ray machines, a MRI and image intensifiers.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith told budget estimates this did not mean the machines were not useful or operating effectively.
"In responding to that question I also sought some further briefing and was assured that the machines that are end of life formally are still functional," she said.
"The machines will continue to function beyond that time frame that is prescribed and particularly around X-rays they are continuing to work perfectly well in the environment that they are in."
A medical imaging machine reaches its end of life following 10 years of operation.
Ms Stephen-Smith said Canberra Health Services had sought to develop a better understanding of all its equipment and assets over recent years and had a strategic asset management plan to enable better forward planning of replacement of equipment and assets.
"We've also made substantial investments through budgets to replace some of that equipment," she said.
Canberra Health Services chief executive Dave Peffer said there were different descriptions around what end of life meant.
"Some might come from the suppliers themselves that they said they are stopping producing parts for a particular piece of equipment," he said.
"Some might relate to the ability ... so it might taper down depending on the age of the machine and this relates to the quality of the image so obviously there's a desire to continue to maintain currency with the sort of technology that we're using.
"It doesn't mean that the machine has stopped working and we've got all of these bits of equipment that are unusable sitting in the hospital. That's not the case at all but it does mean one or a number of measures it's deemed end of life."'
Estimates committee chair Mark Parton asked Mr Peffer to explain what he meant by that and asked him whether it was like milk being past its used by date but still being OK to consume.
"Probably more of a best before Mr Parton rather than a used by date," Mr Peffer responded.
Medicare subsidies are provided for diagnostic imaging but these subsidies are no longer offered when a machine has reached the end of its useful life.
Officials took a question on notice about whether any of the machines resulted in Canberra Health Services losing these subsidies.
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