Ontario's ombudsman has stepped in to find out why PET scans are not being used to their capacity in province.

Ontario has more PET scan machines than any other province, yet it pays for far fewer scans than Quebec, Alberta or B.C.

PET scan machines are used to detect cancer and help doctors determine whether or not cancer is spreading.

PET scans underutilized

There are three PET scan machines in Ottawa. One machine at the Ottawa Hospital gets used about 10 times a week.

"We can do four times that number, 40 patients a week," Dr. Francois Raymond, the hospital's head of nuclear medicine, told CTV News.

He argues the PET scan is not utilized to its full capacity, especially considering what it can do for patients.

"It allows earlier detection, easier patient management, changing the staging of the patient. It's basically improving patient care," Raymond said.

Limited access

Access to PET scanners is limited in Ontario and Andre Marin, the province's ombudsman, is trying to find out why.

"Is it necessary for the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to spend years and years re-assessing, re-evaluating something which has been a proven sanction in Canadian jurisdictions, in the U.S., and all around the world? Is there a need to re-invent the wheel?" asks Marin.

He says it's not an issue of purchasing the machines because those machines have already been bought.

"They're here, but we're actually using PET scans only on pets, quite ironically," he said.

Can PET scans save lives?

Marin says he's received complaints from both doctors and patients who are convinced PET scanners can help save lives.

The Giroux family was featured in a CTV News report on PET scans last month. The family paid for their son to have a PET scan and the test results showed he still had cancer.

"I do believe that he wouldn't be here today, if we hadn't spent the $2,500," Misty Giroux told CTV News. "If we didn't do this then we would basically have been sitting on a time bomb."

The Ombudsman says it will take at least another month to investigate the complex issue.

With a report from CTV's Joanne Schnurr