Doctors in radiology department forced to use their own phone cameras 'in desperation,' writes EITHNE DONNELLAN, Health Correspondent
DOCTORS AT Cavan General Hospital had to resort to using mobile phone cameras to transfer copies of patient scans to a Dublin hospital when technology in the radiology department malfunctioned, it has emerged.
Details of the problems the hospital was having sending images to the Mater hospital in Dublin for expert opinion have been released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act.
In correspondence sent to the HSE in January 2008, Dr Martin Schranz, a consultant radiologist at Cavan hospital, outlined his concerns at the “unsafe” situation which pertained as a result of the way the imaging technology network was set up.
He complained that when staff needed to urgently pass images of a leaking aneurysm to the Mater hospital they found their access had been blocked by the IT department, which did not work out of hours.
He added that just weeks earlier when they needed to transfer images to the Mater, the printer malfunctioned.
“We actually resorted to taking images off the monitor using our mobile phone cameras in desperation,” he wrote.
Furthermore, there were problems for staff viewing images from home at night as access had been blocked.
“This is leading to delays in diagnosis that are sometimes time-critical especially in life or death situations, eg brain bleeds.
“I can give you tangible examples of recent cases in which critical diagnosis was delayed,” he wrote.
The HSE Northeast said yesterday that the electronic link at Cavan General Hospital radiology department allows CT scans to be sent in “live time” to radiology departments in some other hospitals.
A spokesperson said: “On rare occasions, when the radiology link has encountered a temporary breakdown, the hospital has a clearly defined contingency plan that is operationalised with immediate effect to transfer essential scans to another hospital.”
Meanwhile, plans by the HSE to install digital imaging technology in 35 hospitals in the State over the next three years will be unveiled today.
When installed, all hospitals will be using the same technology and all patient X-rays, CT and MRI scans will be stored on a central database so that doctors in any hospital where a patient presents will have access to their previous scans.
The system will save time and money as there will be no need for manual filing of images, for spending hours looking to retrieve those images from patient files or to repeat them when they are lost, and no need to send them between hospitals in taxis as regularly occurs, delaying patient diagnosis.
About 15 hospitals already have the new technology.
Prof Neil O’Hare, who is heading up the implementation of the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (Nimis) for the HSE, said the hospitals to benefit next would be Sligo General, Beaumont, St Luke’s in Rathgar and Limerick Regional Hospital.