Warning as thousands miss vital hospital scans
THOUSANDS of people in Leicester missed out on potentially life-saving scans when non-Covid NHS services ground to a halt during the pandemic.
Analysis of official figures by the BBC Shared Data Unit has found 97,275 fewer diagnostic imaging scans were carried out in the city between April and September this year, compared to the same period in 2019.
University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust saw 206,265 scans performed in the first six months of the pandemic - down by 32% from the 303,540 that took place the year before.
Figures for other hospitals in Leicestershire were unavailable.
Separate figures on waiting times analysed by the BBC also reveal wide variation in how hospitals are rebuilding capacity.
In University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, 31% of patients on the waiting list for a scan had been waiting more than six weeks as of October - up from 1% at the same time last year.
That compares to 77% of patients left waiting more than six weeks in Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, which was up from 0%.
That’s much higher than the national average of 29% of patients across England (up from 3%).
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, experts say. Dr William Ramsden, vice president of the clinical radiology faculty for the Royal College of Radiologists, and Dr Nick Screaton, vice president of the British Institute of Radiologists, have both said an historical lack of staff as well as a shortage in CT and MRI scanners has been “exacerbated” by Covid-19.
One woman whose scan was cancelled in March told the BBC how she was not diagnosed until four months later, when she arrived at an accident and emergency department in Leeds.
She is now undergoing chemotherapy for a stage-four lymphoma.
Jodie Moffatt, head of early diagnosis, Cancer Research UK. “We are very concerned about the impact the virus will have on cancer. The length of time people are waiting for a scan will be having a negative impact on their diagnosis.
“Those patients could be diagnosed with a more aggressive, later stage cancer. That will limit the treatment options available to them also.
“There is a cohort of patients out there that have not been diagnosed yet - and who knows what state they will be in when they are.”
An NHS England spokesman said: “Despite rapidly rising Covid hospitalisations, CT scans are now back to the same levels as last year, while MRI scans are back up to 88% compared to last October and the NHS has bolstered its diagnostic capacity by securing a deal with the independent sector to provide 34 mobile CT scanners across the country.
“At the height of the first wave, some people chose to postpone care, but since then hospital admissions have rebounded, non-urgent treatment has increased by 300% between April and September and GP appointments are now operating at well above usual levels, while the NHS message to the public remains the same – come forward and get the care you need.”
There is a cohort of patients out there that have not been diagnosed yet - and who knows what state they will be in when they are.