Five-fold hike in people waiting for ‘red flag’ cancer scans ‘concerning’ says Auditor General

Transcript

00:00This report provides a high-level factual review of health and social care imaging services in Northern Ireland.

00:07Services such as MRI and CT scans,

00:10ultrasounds and x-rays can significantly assist patient diagnosis and help identify future treatment requirements.

00:18This report outlines several fundamental challenges and pressures facing these services.

00:24There has been a growing gap between an increasing demand and capacity to deliver against this.

00:31Between 2018 and 2024, there were

00:36350,000 fewer scans delivered than was required to meet demand.

00:41Similarly, waiting lists have increased by 56%.

00:46Concerningly, the number of patients waiting longer than two weeks for a red flag

00:50suspected cancer scan has increased five-fold from

00:56260 cases to almost

00:591,800.

01:01The report also notes that 16% of imaging equipment is over 10 years old, making it effectively obsolete.

01:09This can result in increased downtime and maintenance costs and also a lower quality of image, which increases the risk of missed disease.

01:18Without additional funding, the proportion of older equipment will almost inevitably grow further.

01:24But there are also workforce challenges, with the Health Service estimating the current consultant

01:30radiologist training places need to be doubled to meet current demand.

01:34Despite this, it is unclear whether a proposed imaging academy here will receive the funding needed.

01:41Although there are clearly many competing priorities for the HSC budget,

01:46it is important that the Health Service takes stock of the current situation and

01:50sets out how it intends to address these to support the longer term sustainability of imaging services.

01:59A copy of the full report is available on our website.