To be miffed that hospital scan cancelled due to Covid.

[WestendVBroadway]

I was due to have an MRI scan soon, been waiting over 4 months. I have just been informed that this will now be a consultation over the phone ffs. I realise hospitals are over run with Covid patients, but people are still dying from other conditions. The health correspondent on BBC said yesterday that if people are worried about cancer etc , they should not put off going to their GP. What is the point if they end up having to delay tests and the thus treatment ?

@CharlotteRose90

What trusts or areas are you all from? I’m in Manchester and I’ve had an mri, X-ray in the first lockdown and having an ultrasound in 2 weeks. All for different reasons and booked within the last 6 months or so. I must be very lucky 🙈

The variations are substantial.

One of my sisters has had her follow-up for breast cancer reduced to a phone call. No mammogram last year and she's been warned she probably won't be able to have one this year.

A friend in a neighbouring trust has had no disruption to her bc care at all and 3 surgical procedures.

There are so many local factors that it feels impossible to generalise.

But why is the nhs not using these resources and outsourcing the scans?

We are, and have been for a very long (pre-covid) time. Almost all cataract operations are outsourced from our trust to private hospitals now.

*but something needs to change"
Yes, people need to stop ignoring the rules and acting selfishly because they don't think Covid affects them.

Cataract operations as an example. We are also doing it for MRIs, hip replacements etc.

At the start of COVID, back in Feb, we commandeered private hospitals for COVID patients.

Many of the cancelled scans etc are due to staff sickness. Lots of staff off due to having to SI.

@GreenlandTheMovie the scanner wont be lying empty!

The cancellation will be due to other cases deemed more urgent overriding the OPs condition. These scanners are working 12 hrs plus a day the pressure to get patients (both covid and non covid, urgent and less urgent ) done is immense.

The imaging team will be under pressure from ALL other hospital depts, GPs, chief execs to keep the service going. It's the volume of patients requiring scans coupled with scanner and staff availability that is causing the issue.

MRI scans take longer than CT scans and other imaging procedures, so less patients get seen in a day.

If I was feeling facetious I might say we all have to die sometime, however if there are not the staff to provide the treatment safely, then you have to wait. It is annoying but it is not personal.

Not personal but it has cost my DP is life. He will be dying very soon because of the way he was treated in the last lockdown, the chances to diagnosis his cancer earlier were missed and bodged, by the time he had surgery they found his cancer had spread and he is now terminal. It is good to know it's a) not personal and b) something to be facetious about.

@bloodywhitecat

If I was feeling facetious I might say we all have to die sometime, however if there are not the staff to provide the treatment safely, then you have to wait. It is annoying but it is not personal.

Not personal but it has cost my DP is life. He will be dying very soon because of the way he was treated in the last lockdown, the chances to diagnosis his cancer earlier were missed and bodged, by the time he had surgery they found his cancer had spread and he is now terminal. It is good to know it's a) not personal and b) something to be facetious about.

This is horrendous, it makes me so angry when these situations are just brushed aside as if "oh well, what can we do".... I know it's a rock and a hard place but of course we can few outrageously angry and upset by treatment that can prolong or save lives is missed because covid is taking precedence. No we shouldn't leave covid patients to die absolutely not but no one is being unreasonable to feel the whole situation is truly horrible

I am really sorry to all the people who’ve been affected by this . The answer to this is mass vaccination so we minimise Covid ASAP and get the NHS back to previous capacity, along with increased funding.

Not sure if this will work in practice - come on over to the vaccine thread and you’ll be horrified at how many people are going to opt out because it “hasn’t been tested enough”, “alters DNA” or because they once sniffed a flower and sneezed so might be allergic . I really hope there becomes a massive stigma around willingly option out of the vaccine, selfish fuckers.

If I had a scan privately would I have to continue treatment privately?
No. You could have the private MRI results sent to your GP and hospital consultant (if you have one) and they can act on it.

This. And they will act on it at an appropriate speed depending on what they find - so if they find something sinister, they will act on it quickly (assuming the resources are available.

I agree with you OP.

I think is DISGUSTING that apparently, only covid deaths matter and if you are dying or die of anything else, well- tough shit! You dont even appear in the statistics on TV because apparently, you dont matter!

I had to go private over the summer due to this reason. It really annoyed me but the government doesnt seem to care about anyone else apart from those with covid so I had to look after my own health seeing as noone else gives a fck.

OP it really sucks. People saying it's a pandemic suck it up doesnt help you at all.

Hopefully they can tell from the phone call if you need the scan or can wait a bit longer.

I do hope that once this blows over they stop the stupid degree fees for all health related subjects. That might help somewhat getting fresh nursing and therapy staff 3,4 years down the line.

MRI scanners are a basic modern diagnostic tool for many conditions which cannot be diagnosed without them, so to have an expensive MRI scanner sitting there out of action is a big failure on the part of that NHS Trust.

If they are thinking of taking on an extra van then obviously it’s not lying empty! And everything extra has to be paid for.

Most MRI scanners I know run for at least 12 hours a day 7 days a week. To do more requires additional staff (and money to pay them), who (guess what?) require training. It’s not a quick fix.

@MrsFezziwig

MRI scanners are a basic modern diagnostic tool for many conditions which cannot be diagnosed without them, so to have an expensive MRI scanner sitting there out of action is a big failure on the part of that NHS Trust.

If they are thinking of taking on an extra van then obviously it’s not lying empty! And everything extra has to be paid for.

Most MRI scanners I know run for at least 12 hours a day 7 days a week. To do more requires additional staff (and money to pay them), who (guess what?) require training. It’s not a quick fix.

Damned short sighted then to have cancelled so many in the first lockdown when they were still going ahead in most other countries.

@GreenlandTheMovie Our MRI scanner didnt close during the last lockdown, they carried on with all the necessary scans that needed doin during that period.

I had an MRI scan with in two weeks if it being requested. It was non urgent so I was impressed.

I had an MRI scan within the urgent 2 week wait time.
Itu full here, but they found a slot for me.
Cancer treatments continue.