Mega-clinics tackle ‘horrifying’ breast checks backlog
‘MEGA clinics” are being used to tackle a “horrifying” backlog of breast cancer checks at a Bristol hospital as it was revealed artifical intelligence could be used to help with investigations.
Fewer than one in six women who showed potential symptoms of the disease, such as a lump or pain, to their GP in March were seen by a specialist at Southmead within two weeks.
By April, the North Bristol Trust (NBT)’s figures had plummeted further still, with only one in 16 women seen within a fortnight – down from a rate of nine in 10 last year. The poor performance – described as “horrifying” by the trust’s own chair, Michele Romaine – has been blamed on a national shortage of radiologists that could soon be addressed by using artificial intelligence.
Peter Brindle, the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group’s medical director of clinical effectiveness, told its governing body on July 6: “Although we reached a really difficult peak of 798 people in a backlog waiting for an appointment, the figures out this morning have come down to 294.
“Although we have a terrible problem, the trajectory towards improvement is good. They’re running a seven-day service with mega clinics at the weekend, lots of extra time.
“In terms of mutual aid we’ve convened a number of meetings.
“Although NBT have really struggled for reasons particularly around workforce, as a proportion their backlogs haven’t been as bad as some other parts of the region.
“The overall numbers have been dramatic in NBT because of the large volume the service delivers.
“We haven’t got anything signed
and sealed yet for mutual aid.
“We have preliminary offers from Gloucester, Yeovil and the RUH, but the precise details are yet to be completely nailed.
“We still have a very significant challenge but we can be assured that the 24 actions are making a significant impact. We’re heading in the right direction.”
He said the CCG was close to trialling artificial intelligence to read X-rays, adding: “It’s a very exciting potential way of mitigating what is a national and quite long-term radiologist shortage that just won’t be mitigated very quickly.”
NBT medical director Chris Burton said: “We are very sorry to anyone who has been affected by delays in our breast service due to increased demand over the last eight months and compounded by staff vacancies.
“Our team has been working incredibly hard to run additional clinics so we can see patients as quickly as possible and we are seeing improvements in waiting times.
“There is more work to do to meet the growing numbers being referred to us, but we would like to reassure patients that we are prioritising urgent cases.”