Delays in appointments for Shropshire breast services 'resolved'
Delays in patients being given their first appointments for breast services at Shropshire's hospitals have been resolved, health bosses say.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) was not meeting national standards earlier this year and the waiting time for a first appointment was longer than two weeks.
Health chiefs say the breast surgery and breast imaging teams at the trust have been working closely to address the issues following the retirement of two experienced consultants.
There has also been a national shortage in consultant radiologists and radiographers who are skilled in breast imaging.
SaTH says it is proactively recruiting to the vacant consultant positions and has redesigned its patient referral form in order to narrow down the type of imaging a patient needs and cut waiting times.
Sheila Fryer, clinical support services care group director at SaTH, which runs Royal Shrewsbury Hospital and Telford's Princess Royal Hospital, said: “The work of the breast surgery and breast imaging teams means the trust is able to again book first outpatient appointments for breast imaging within the national two-week standard.
“The trust recently lost two experienced consultant breast radiologists through retirement and there is a national shortage of consultant radiologists, as highlighted recently by the President of the Royal College of Radiologists, Dr Nicola Strickland.
Recruiting
"This meant that the waiting time for a first appointment had started to exceed national standards.
“We are proactively recruiting to our vacant posts and having some success in attracting new, overseas consultants with an interest in breast imaging.
"We have recruited two locum consultant radiologists skilled in breast imaging to support the service in the interim period.
“We have also redesigned the patient referral form so that we can be more specific about the type of imaging a patient requires, and this has allowed us to bring the waiting time back down.
“Our team is keen to secure the sustainability of this important service in Shropshire and we are therefore investing in the development of advanced practice for our already skilled radiographers.
“Our team is committed to improving patient care through extending their clinical practice.
"This will enable them to carry out clinical examinations alongside the nursing team in the future and enable more of them to carry out ultrasound and report mammograms.”
