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Report
Five-fold hike in people waiting for ‘red flag’ cancer scans ‘concerning’ says Auditor General
Derry Journal
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31/03/2025
Five-fold hike in people waiting for ‘red flag’ cancer scans ‘concerning’ says Auditor General
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News
Transcript
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00:00
This report provides a high-level factual review of health and social care imaging services in Northern Ireland.
00:07
Services such as MRI and CT scans,
00:10
ultrasounds and x-rays can significantly assist patient diagnosis and help identify future treatment requirements.
00:18
This report outlines several fundamental challenges and pressures facing these services.
00:24
There has been a growing gap between an increasing demand and capacity to deliver against this.
00:31
Between 2018 and 2024, there were
00:36
350,000 fewer scans delivered than was required to meet demand.
00:41
Similarly, waiting lists have increased by 56%.
00:46
Concerningly, the number of patients waiting longer than two weeks for a red flag
00:50
suspected cancer scan has increased five-fold from
00:56
260 cases to almost
00:59
1,800.
01:01
The report also notes that 16% of imaging equipment is over 10 years old, making it effectively obsolete.
01:09
This can result in increased downtime and maintenance costs and also a lower quality of image, which increases the risk of missed disease.
01:18
Without additional funding, the proportion of older equipment will almost inevitably grow further.
01:24
But there are also workforce challenges, with the Health Service estimating the current consultant
01:30
radiologist training places need to be doubled to meet current demand.
01:34
Despite this, it is unclear whether a proposed imaging academy here will receive the funding needed.
01:41
Although there are clearly many competing priorities for the HSC budget,
01:46
it is important that the Health Service takes stock of the current situation and
01:50
sets out how it intends to address these to support the longer term sustainability of imaging services.
01:59
A copy of the full report is available on our website.
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