Hospital’s backlog of 54,000 radiology images ‘unacceptable’
Doctors are doing their best but they're 'under-resourced, underfunded' says AMA state president Dr Maria Boulton.
Staff shortages and surging demand are being blamed for an “unacceptable” backlog of more than 50,000 radiology images that will take months to clear at a Queensland hospital.
Gold Coast University Hospital called an emergency meeting last week and increased the outsourcing of X-rays, CT scans and ultrasounds to the private sector amid concerns the imaging delays could put patients at risk.
Hospital chiefs and the state health minister rushed to assure patients that everything was being done to clear the more than 54,000 images, which could take up to three months.
“Obviously a backlog of that size is really concerning and it is unacceptable,” Minister for Health Shannon Fentiman told reporters on Thursday.
