Report claims shorter wait times for imaging in U.K.

Mar 22, 2007

The U.K. has made progress in reducing patient waiting times for imaging services in many parts of the country since 2001, according to a report released this week by the U.K. Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection.

The commission assessed waiting times in 2005 and 2006 for imaging services at acute and specialty hospitals in the National Health Service (NHS), and compared them to its last audit in 2001. The commission found that the NHS has made progress in reducing waiting times in most regions and for most modalities.

For example, between 2001 and 2005, typical waits for CT scans referred by a general practitioner or outpatient department had fallen from seven weeks to five weeks, and for MRI scans from 21 weeks to 14 weeks. Additional progress in reducing wait times was made by many trust hospitals in 2006, the commission said.

NHS hospitals have also made progress in upgrading the quality of their equipment, with the most recent audit finding 39% more MRI scanners, 23% more CT scanners, and 22% more ultrasound machines compared with 2001. The percentage of CT scanners over seven years old had fallen from 33% to 15%. In addition, 54% of imaging departments had some form of PACS network in place, compared with only 13% in 2001.

Despite the progress, the report found that unacceptable waits still exist within the NHS system. In December 2006, six trusts still had more than 100 patients who had waited more than six months for a scan. Also, in many trusts, radiology report turnaround times had not improved compared with 2001.

The report found robust growth in imaging services on a procedure volume basis. the number of CT scans has been growing at a rate of 15% per year, MRI by 11% per year, and ultrasound by 5% per year.

The complete report is available by clicking here.

By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
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