Tallaght X-Ray backlog clarity needed – Crowe

Dublin South West representative Seán Crowe TD has said that greater clarity needs to be given to the questions surrounding  the backlog of 6,000 x-rays and scans in Tallaght Hospital. Crowe said he had serious concerns about this latest systems breakdown coming after an inquiry in 2009 which found 57000 unread x-rays and unprocessed General Practioners letters.

Deputy Seán Crowe said

“It seems like  the worrying pattern of  systems overload and delays in reviewing x-rays and scans are back again with a vengeance  in Tallaght Hospital.

“Like many others, I am seriously concerned that a backlog of this magnitude  has been allowed develop especially in the wake of the scandal in 2009 when it emerged that there were 57,000 unread x-rays and unprocessed GP letters in the hospital.

“An  inquiry held following the scandal by former Senator Maurice Hayes in November 2010 showed that there were serious staffing shortages in the Radiology Department and delays by the Health Service Executive in approving these essential frontline posts. Hayes also maintained that proper systems were not in place to manage GP referrals and patients faced undue delays, on top of the general waiting list backlog faced by all patients.

“After that scandal we were told it would be sorted out and that no patient was ever at risk.

“5 years later  we are being told that there is a backlog of 6,000 files, but again there is  no risk to patients

“According to RTE News, the backlog issue relates to delays in typed radiology reports.

“These include X-rays, CT, MRI and ultrasound scans, which have been read by a specialist and the results dictated onto tapes to be typed up and issued to the consultant.

“The delays apparently only relate to test reports on adult patients only and a hospital spokeperson has cited ‘a deficit in clerical resources’ for this latest backlog.

“If this resource defecit is a result of the Government recruitment ban then it is another good reason why we need to be told exactly what is happening in Tallaght .

“If the problem is directly related to the recruitment ban it needs to be lifted as a matter of urgency before the lives of patients are put at risk.

“The hospital now says that any critical findings spotted on a scan would not have a delay in reporting but would be immediately brought to the attention of the referring doctor

“But we were also told that this systems problem was supposed to have been sorted out after the Hayes Report.

“Tallaght Hospital  patients and their families need answers and as a minimum, should get public assurances from the Chief Executive of the Hospital Eilis Hardiman that this problem will not re-occur again.”

“An internal hospital memo had warned that because of the backlog, patients may be at medical risk from lack of transmission of findings to their referring doctor. It says the problem has been highlighted to senior hospital management for the past four months but attempts to tackle the backlog have not succeeded.

“The hospital plans to introduce an interim solution from April, which will deal with around two-thirds of scans, using a voice recognition system.

“During the first quarter of next year, Tallaght also expects to roll out the full national integrated medical imaging system already operating in many hospitals.”