GPs report long waits for patients seeking scans

GPs around the country are reporting long waiting lists for patients requiring X-ray, scans and tests.

Many patients are opting to pay to have scans performed privately rather than waiting up to 12 months to be seen in the public system, family doctors say.

Meanwhile, the Health Service Executive has refused to release national data on waiting times for diagnostics, even though this information is collected from many hospitals.

The HSE has also refused a Freedom of Information request from The Irish Times for this data, on the basis that the information it has is not "validated".

The Irish College of General Practitioners, which has highlighted the central role of diagnostics in diagnosing cancer, asked members to tweet their experiences of seeking tests or scans for their patients.

Dublin GP William Behan said waiting times for colonscopies varied greatly, from a matter of weeks in St James’s Hospital to a year in Tallaght . With the waiting time of eight weeks for an ultrasound of the abdomen or pelvis, patients haveto go private if they are feeling unwell, he said.

In Co Meath, Dr Stephen Murphy said reports on “same day” X-rays were taking up to two weeks, while the waiting time for ultrasounds was six to eight months.

Co Monaghan GP Dr Seamus Clarke estimated the waiting time for routine X-rays, CT scans and MRIs at three to 12 months.

Dr Mark McClean said patients in Wexford were waiting six to 12 months for an ultrasound. He described the situation as a “diagnostic lottery”.

The ICGP described the figures as shocking. “How can GPs meaningfully manage any acute/chronic medical illness with no access to diagnostics,” it asked.

Most patients referred for radiological investigation have vague or non-specific symptoms and their GP is uncertain of the diagnosis, according to ICGP spokesman, Dr Mark Murphy. “That’s why the investigation is ordered - to help the GP find the problem.”

“Cancer often presents in an indolent way, over many months, with vague symptoms, but it ‘could’ be ovarian cancer or bowel cancer in certain circumstances and the GP may order endoscopic investigation of the bowels or an ultrasound or CT scan.”