As reported by Patient Safety Learning Hub, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust alerts GPs to 15-week wait times for routine scans, prioritising urgent cases
Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust in central London said it was prioritising suspected cancer and other “urgent cases”, meaning “unfortunately waiting times for routine patients are now an average of 15-16 weeks for an appointment against a target of six weeks”.
This is much worse than national averages, which December figures showed were 3.2 weeks, 2.5 weeks and 3.3 weeks for MRI, CT and ultrasound waits respectively.
It its letter to GPs in Lambeth and Southwark – its main patches – GSTT said: “Current imaging referral demand outstrips capacity, despite these services consistently delivering near 120 per cent levels of activity compared to 2019-20.
“The radiology service is exploring multiple routes to increase imaging capacity, including increased weekend working, insourcing and outsourcing contracts, but there is still a significant shortfall of slots every week.”
In particular, it said primary care staff should expect long waits for the reporting of routine MRI scans.
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1. Seqirus Data on File, August 2023. SREF–17994. 2. Adjuvanted Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (surface antigen, inactivated)▼ Summary of Product Characteristics. 3. Cell-based Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (surface antigen, inactivated)▼ Summary of Product Characteristics.
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