Bosses ‘knew nothing’ of huge X-rays backlog Hospitals trust is warned of action over radiology scandal
BOSSES at a crisis-hit hospital trust had ‘no knowledge’ of a shocking backlog of 36,000 Xrays, which had put patients at risk.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust has been warned of further enforcement action from the Care Quality Commission unless it improves its radiology department.
It was revealed in August how the CQC found the Trust had failed to report on more than 11,000 vital X-rays, raising ‘serious concerns’ about patient safety. The scans were to help diagnose serious health problems but had not been fully assessed or written up.
But now a report by the CQC shows the backlog was actually closer to 36,000 – and dated back to 2013. There was also clear evidence that patients had been put at risk by the backlog, which was discovered following a CQC inspection on July 27.
The X-rays had been carried out at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcester Royal and Kidderminster Hospitals.
Now, Sir Mike Richards, the CQC’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals, has issued a statement outlining the watchdog’s concerns.
“At the time we inspected, we were concerned that patients using Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s radiology services were experiencing a poor level of care and treatment,” he said.
“The board had no oversight or knowledge of the backlog, meaning we were not assured that there were suitable governance and escalation processes in place to protect patients from potential harm. There were not robust procedures in place to trigger the escalation of risk caused by these lengthy delays in reporting.”
The Trust offered an action plan to the CQC days after the visit – but the watchdog has now warned that further action could follow unless sufficient improvements are made.
A spokesman for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We apologise for any distress this has caused and can confirm that the backlog concerns a secondary review of X-rays with the majority of these X-rays having been reviewed by the requesting clinician, mostly on the same day. Following the CQC visit in July 2016, we have responded promptly to the concerns raised and can confirm that the plain film backlog is now cleared. Our processes have been reviewed, radiographer staffing levels are improved and we are now working to a standard of reporting all urgent x-rays within two days and all other ‘routine’ x-rays within two weeks.”