Scan waiting times to be reduced
Patients forced to wait for a routine diagnostic scan will be able to choose to go to another NHS or private hospital to have their scan more quickly, under new government plans.
The scheme, announced by health secretary Patricia Hewitt, will begin in November for patients waiting over 20 weeks for a MRI or CT scan.
By April 2006, it will be rolled out to cover ultrasound and other scans for patients waiting longer than 16 weeks.
From November, the maximum wait for a scan will be 26 weeks, reduced to 20 weeks in April when the second part of the scheme starts.
Ms Hewitt acknowledged that patients were currently caught in a “bottleneck” waiting for scans and other diagnostic services, and said the new scheme would help tackle this “hidden waiting list”.
She added: “We have already made it clear that by 2008 nobody will wait longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to their treatment in hospital. Speedier access to diagnostic tests is an essential part of achieving that.
“Whilst we build this capacity, I want to make sure that no patient has to wait longer than necessary for their scan if there is somewhere else in the NHS or independent sector that can provide it more quickly. This scheme will complement our investment in diagnostics.
Earlier, she told Today: “What we’re doing here for MRI and other diagnostic tests is exactly what we did some time ago for operations, where we said if you’ve been waiting for your operation more than six months and your local hospital couldn’t do it, then the NHS would pay for you to have it done somewhere else.
“And that policy of choice has not only been very popular with patients, but it has meant that hospitals, many hospitals and consultants, have re-organised their ways of working in order to stop those waiting lists going beyond six months. I think we’ll see something very similar happen now for diagnostics.”
The policy was partly prompted by GPs, who had told the health secretary that the delay in getting hospital scans for their patients was one of their biggest frustrations.
But, the British Medical Association has pointed to the problems of NHS scanners standing unused because of lack of funding to run them.
They believe money should be concentrated on staffing NHS scanners, rather than diverting funds into private sector providers.
