A Sussex Health Trust Explains Steep Fall In Diagnostic Scans

Thursday, 17 December 2020 11:12

By John Warburton @Warblefly

MRI scanner, similar to a unit in Brighton (Stock image, © Wikimedia Commons user PTrump16/Creative Commons)

The Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust says figures showing a steep fall in diagnostic scans it's carried out is explained by a lack of referrals from surgeries and hospitals during the pandemic.

Across the country, data collected by the BBC Shared Data Unit found 4.4m fewer diagnostic imaging scans were carried out in England alone in the six months between April and September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

Waiting times for diagnostics such as CT and MRI scans have soared across the UK, with more than half of those in need of imaging tests in Scotland waiting more than the six-week limit.

But there were also large differences between regions and individual hospitals, some of which were not able to scan any patients within 13 weeks of referral.

While the NHS and professional bodies say hospitals were forced to cancel elective appointments to limit patients in wards, the pandemic has exposed flaws in the health service’s ability to diagnose serious conditions early.

Two top radiologists have said an historical lack of staff as well as a shortage in CT and MRI scanners has been “exacerbated” by Covid-19.

In Sussex, figures made available to researchers shows that the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, running the Royal Sussex and Princess Royal hospitals, had carried out almost 27% fewer scans.

The trust running the Eastbourne DGH and The Conquest in St. Leonards, the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, carried out almost 22% fewer.

But the fall in scans conducted by the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust was particularly severe, at 46%.

In a statement released to More Radio, the trust explained that its role, supporting Sussex's healthcare in communities, is markedly different from that of a trust running hospitals directly.

A spokesperson said:

"Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust provides community services across Sussex and carries out routine scans on patients who are referred to us from NHS services that we do not run or provide ourselves.

"As the NHS prioritised responding to the coronavirus pandemic at the start of the year, the number of referrals to us for routine scans dropped significantly.

"Other parts of the NHS, for example, acute hospitals, did not see the same level of reduction because urgent scans were still carried out for their existing hospital inpatients, as well as people who continued to attend Accident and Emergency.

"As NHS services restore following the first wave of the pandemic, the number of people being referred to us for diagnostic scans is increasing again, and we are working hard to see patients as quickly as we can."