Trust conducts 'thorough investigation’ after PAs found to be ordering CT scans

University Hospital Lewisham. Credit: Gilo1969/ Creative Commons

By Daniel Pye

An NHS trust is conducting a “thorough investigation” into why dozens of CT head trauma scans were ordered by physician associates during the last 3 years.

A Freedom of Information request to Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT), seen by Doctors.net.uk, asked how many CT head scans had been made by an emergency department PA [at University Hospital Lewisham] over the last 3 years?

The trust gave an initial response that no CT head scans had been ordered by PAs, but the FOI requester asked if the trust confirm “with absolute certainty that each PA in the emergency department had not ordered a CT head (or via CTH trauma protocol)?” In a revised response, the trust then confirmed that 57 CT head trauma scans had been ordered by PAs.

It said: "We can confirm that we have now checked CT ordering for all PAs employed [by] the Trust and that this shows 57 CT head trauma scans have been ordered by Physician Associates during the last 3 years."