- Patients having to wait up to eight months for an MRI scan
- Read Facebook comments below
- One patient has described the wait as absolutely unacceptable
- What It’s Like to Have an MRI Scan? Watch the video below
PATIENTS are having to wait up to eight months to have an MRI scan at the Hospital, it has been revealed.
Today, one patient – who has been told her appointment has been scheduled for next February – has described the wait as ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and said she fears that her symptoms could deteriorate further before her appointment.
And Deputy Jackie Hilton has said that it was ‘disconcerting’ that those who can afford to pay for their scan can have one ‘almost immediately’ and called for a second scanner to be introduced.
The Hospital said that the average wait for an MRI scan was around six to seven months.
It did not respond in time for publication when the JEP asked how long a private patient had to wait to have a scan.
Sarah Richardson said that her consultant ordered an MRI scan for her around two weeks ago.
‘I had not heard anything about it for quite some time so I phoned the MRI team at the General Hospital, who told me that I was not scheduled for an appointment until February 2016,’ she said.
‘It is absolutely unacceptable.
‘My worry is that if the current scanner was to break down, the wait would be even longer.
‘It is also frustrating that if I had a private appointment, I would be able to be seen next week.
‘I am also worried about my symptoms getting worse between now and February.’
Deputy Hilton said that she felt the long waiting times for the scanner needed to be highlighted to the public and the Council of Ministers.
She said: ‘Ms Richardson’s case is classed as routine and non-urgent so because of this, they have been told that it could be up to eight months before they are seen.
‘The scanner is being operated Monday to Saturday 12 hours a day and I think the Hospital needs to consider running it seven days a week with Sunday being dedicated to private appointments to free up slots during the week.
‘What is most disconcerting about all of this is that if my constituent could afford to pay, she would have her scan almost immediately.
‘If the scanner malfunctioned, I really do not know how the hospital would cope.’
General Hospital director Helen O’Shea said in a statement that the current routine wait for an MRI scan was around six to seven months, which she admitted was ‘far too long’.
She added: ‘?Demand for MRI imaging has increased significantly with a number of factors contributing to this, including meeting the needs of the oncology and emergency departments, the development of new techniques and the growing number of routine scans required to meet the needs of an ageing population.
‘Jersey General Hospital has a single scanner which runs over extended hours from Monday to Saturday, and occasionally on Sundays too.?
‘?There are plans to replace the existing scanner within the next 12 months and although we do not have a revenue stream to fund a second scanner, we are looking at options to install the new one as a second rather than as a replacement.’
Mrs O’Shea added that the increased demand for MRI scans mirrors what has happened in the UK in the past ten years but unlike UK hospitals, Jersey does not have the same option to utilise scanners in neighbouring towns.
She said: ‘We are reviewing referral protocols and working with GP partners in order to reduce existing waiting times.’
Petra Leitnerova: ‘When I had an MRI scan of my knee, I waited about eight months. I was in pain and the scan revealed that I had badly damaged my knee, tearing my meniscus and so on. I was in a pain for a year before my surgery.’
Stephen Mandel: ‘It took me over six months to get an MRI after getting injured while serving overseas in the desert. Being close to family while getting treated was the military’s philosophy. In hindsight, I should have stayed and got treated in the UK. The quicker the diagnosis the better the prognosis. However, I still had first-class service from Jersey’s medical teams.
Sinead Bisson: ‘Yes, definitely. I had a leg injury and could not walk with the pain and was told the waiting list was forty weeks! I had to go private to get seen to and even then there was a wait.’
