But Bermuda Hospitals Board chairman Raymonde Dill said the sophisticated diagnostic machine, often used to detect head injuries, at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital was up and running the next day.

"The CAT scan was down for one day (last Wednesday),'' Mr. Dill said.

"One tube blew and our bio-medical technical team replaced it and had the unit up and running for the next day.'' He added that all appointments were rescheduled.

"Everyone was attended to and the unit was back on schedule by Thursday,'' Mr. Dill said.

Asked if Bermuda's population required a second CAT scan machine, Mr. Dill said, "To duplicate the high quality machine that we have would be superfluous.

"We have an in-house technical team with the know how on how to fix it and they carry out regular maintenance checks.''