PATIENTS face longer waits for potentially life-saving scans after the private company running the mobile service at Bolton Diabetes Centre has been accused of a series of errors.

The NHS ultrasound and MRI scanning service provided by Atos has been suspended while an investigation is carried out into claims doctors were unable to tell which results belonged to which patients in seven cases.

The patients have been recalled and scanned again due to problems with the images at centres in Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Oldham, Wigan, Liverpool and the Diabetes Centre in Bolton.

A total of 131 Bolton appointments have been affected. The majority of patients have had phone calls postponing the appointments and letters are being sent to those who have not been told.

Health bosses are hoping to select a new contractor by the end of the week and it is hoped the delayed patients will be seen within the next two to three weeks. Two unnamed companies are in the running and the new service will remain in Bolton.

A Primary Care Trust spokesman said: "We will know the location by the end of the week and we will start referring patients."

The Department of Health had negotiated a contract with France-based Atos which was due to start in April. But eight primary care trusts, including Bolton, wanted to access the services sooner.

A separate contract was drawn up to provide the scans from December until the end of March.

However, concerns were raised last month after an audit showed some information was not being correctly recorded.

A spokesman for the NHS North-west, which brought in the company, said: "A decision was taken to suspend the service while a review is carried out. To date, there is no evidence that patient safety has been seriously compromised."

Waits for MRI scans have dropped from 50 weeks in 2005 to nine weeks following the introduction of the scanner at the Diabetes Centre. Staff at the Royal Bolton Hospital also worked during the evenings and at weekends to reduce waiting times.