Cancer scan delays at Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital
Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust which runs Derriford Hospital has been criticised because one in six of its cancer patients is waiting longer than recommended for vital CT scans.
One cancer patient from Plymouth faced a three-month wait for a vital CT scan due to an appointment backlog at the hospital. Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has 2,534 patients waiting for a computerised thermography (CT) scan and 404 have gone over the required waiting time of six weeks.
The Trust for the hospital, which covers Devon and Cornwall, said the delay was due to a number of factors, including the recent replacement of a scanner, vacancies within the department and a rise in demand for scans.
Kevin Baber, chief operating officer for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said:
“At present our waiting times for patients needing a CT scan is longer than we would like it to be and some of our patients are waiting longer than they should. We appreciate this is hard for them and want to apologise for any distress and anxiety this maybe causing. We are doing everything we can to reduce the waiting times and to see as many patients as we can.”
He added that Derriford Hospital is planning to recruit more staff within the department.
Last year, Derriford Hospital was warned by the CQC that it must improve safety or risk prosecution after six “never” events within a year, including swabs being left in four patients.
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