Radiology failings reflect ‘overburdened and under-resourced’ system

Getty/Morsa Images

By Sarah Lowden

NHS radiology failings identified by England's health ombudsman reflect a system that is “overburdened and under-resourced", according to the Royal College of Radiologists.

College president, Dr Katharine Halliday, was responding to the ombudsman’s review which found patients are dying unnecessarily and others are facing unacceptable delays because of repeated failings in the way scans are read.

Despite a report 4 years ago into mistakes in the interpreting and reporting of images, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) said it has since upheld or partly upheld more than 40 cases in which similar failings were found.

A new review has found the most common issues are doctors failing to identify abnormalities such as tumours, scans not being carried out or being delayed, and results not being properly followed up.

In one case, a 10-month delay in cancer being diagnosed “significantly” harmed the person’s chance of survival, while another patient had serious pelvic sepsis missed, which led to an avoidable death.