Another 13 patients are recalled over scans – with more facing anxious wait
ANOTHER 13 patients whose scans were reviewed by University Hospital Kerry have been called back for a re-check, it emerged yesterday.
It brings to 34 the number of patients who have had to be re-scanned to determine if they were misdiagnosed.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said that after the re-check, “no further clinical follow up has been needed as a result of their scan”.
A review of 46,000 scans overseen by a locum consultant radiologist at the hospital is underway by external specialists.
It follows the discovery that seven of the doctor’s patients were given the wrong diagnosis, including three people whose cancer was missed.
They came back to the hospital over the summer and autumn after their symptoms, which led to their referral for examination earlier this year, persisted or got worse.
A full-scale investigation of the consultant’s readings began in October. A team of radiologists around the country is now re-examining the scans electronically.
They will work over Christmas and the new year in a bid to complete the review some time in January.
However, it means that many worried patients will spend the festive season wondering if they will get the recall.
Hundreds of patients have contacted the hospital’s helpline since it was set up on Monday.
The radiologist, who was working in the hospital as a locum, left in October and has been referred to the Medical Council.
Questions remain about the high workload of the consultant between March 2016 and July this year.
The issue will be looked at in an inquiry into the factors that contributed to the missed cases.
Although not seen as large in number, they are a cause of concern due to the nature of the faulty readings – prompting all scans to be reviewed.