A REPORT into an X-ray checking scandal on the Gold Coast has found “significant” numbers of X-rays went unreported — more than 200,000 in four years.
On Thursday, Queensland Health released the report on the investigation into the reporting of radiology services at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service.
The report slammed the reporting rate in the region and found countless reviews into the issue had been ignored and recommended widespread changes to workflows and hospital policies in a bid to fix the problem.
It found the problems dated back to at least July 2011.
“There were significant numbers of patients whose radiology plain X-ray films were
unreported, which exposed patients of GCHHS to increased clinical risk in relation
to timely diagnosis and treatment,” the report found.
“More specifically, the GCHHS Diagnostic Imaging Department failed to make a formal
report for over half of the patients who underwent diagnostic imaging studies between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2014.
“That is, out of approximately 495,000 studies performed at GCHHS in the investigation period of July 2011 to June 2014, only 258,000 were formally reported.
“For those patients whose studies were reported, the reports were frequently not available within 24 hours.
“While the diagnostic imaging reporting rate has fluctuated, it has generally been lower than clinically acceptable and deteriorated further following the transition from the Gold Coast Hospital to the Gold Coast University Hospital and the new Diagnostic Imaging Department.”
The report was sparked after it was revealed in July that the X-rays of at least 48,000 patients were not followed up and reported on.
The report found that, as of June 2014, about 25,365 images relating to the “higher priority patient group” had not had formal reports.
It found of these, 2102 patients required further investigation, and eleven patients were identified as having a “significant abnormality” missed by the original clinician.
“Nine patients are, however, undergoing continued monitoring and follow up; numerous other patients were identified as having missed abnormalities but these were understood to be “clinically minor” in nature,” the report stated.
However it noticed but that “current clinical information is that they have not suffered any adverse outcomes as a result”.