MRI...but no staff to read it

[RhythmStick]

I will never understand, how some departments, in some hospitals, literally grind to a halt on a weekend because there's not the Dr's/consultant's etc.

MRI done, for a seriously unwell inpatient, but no staff to read it until at least tomorrow afternoon, or maybe Tuesday.

The doc saw a reason to get an MRI, but the trouble is there being no one around to read it

As said above radiology is a 24/7 service. If there is capacity to scan at a weekend then a radiologist will be on call. I don't understand why they are saying there is no-one to report it. Hope it gets sorted for you.

@Shiningstarr but they do work on a rota……. There just isn’t enough of them. Maybe leave for greener pastures as conditions and pay are much worse in the NHS than in other places.

Consultants work weekends? I did not know that.

@Shiningstarr more people rota’d at the weekend means less people during the week …… what do you want?

So do consultants work weekends?

Yes they work weekends and they do on call weekends which means they are physically there during the day sometimes for 13 hours then they go home to sleep at night and are on call at home overnight.

Our consultants work weekends and on call overnight too.

There is a massive shortage in lots of areas at present. Our midwifery department is ridiculously short. As is the scanning department.

They are desperate to recruit but can't.

Yes. Not often doing routine outpatient clinics, but all of the consultants I know work weekends and/or do weekends on call.

DH is a consultant and works on call nights and weekends. Unfortunately, in order to do that, under the working time directive, that means that he then has to cut a clinic out of his diary every other week and loses an operating list a month, which obviously then impacts his waiting list and gets ever longer.

It is an awful situation, but you can’t have everything. There simply aren’t enough staff to provide a 24/7 service-and staff are treated so appallingly there is no appetite left for it.

I’m sorry for you and your poor DC-hopefully as an urgent report, it will be done first thing in the morning and you will have some answers then.

@Shiningstarr Most departments/hospitals work on skeleton staffing at the weekends. Less doctors, admin staff, canteen staff etc.

Some specialist services don’t work all weekends for example respiratory nurses.

Even if the government decided to fully staff hospitals at weekends it wouldn’t be possible. Firstly they don’t have a enough staff and secondly people get paid more at the weekend so it would cost the Taxpayer more.

Sorry you’re going through this OP. Where I work we tend to aim for formal reporting of our in-patient tests within 24 hours which would include it being looked at, reported, typed up, checked and signed off by two members of staff. However, the person doing the test is trained to spot issues that are more urgent and will make sure it is reported straight away if required. So you may initially be told that it could be 24-36 hours as a standard timeline, but that doesn’t mean that no one has even glanced at it in that time. Hope you get some positive answers soon.

I worked for a trust recently and we could not recruit a radiologist for love nor money. The money was being offered at sessional rates, v well renumerated but there are just not enough staff.
The rota issue and 7 day working is in place but there are simply not enough staff to operate a full service 7 days a week.
So sorry about your situation OP.

@Shiningstarr I must tell the 2 consultants that were on yesterday in ICU that they should have gone home as they don't work weekends!
Or the surgical Consultant that reviewed his patients as well

Of course they do. My boss was on call all 4 bank holiday days.

Oh alright!! Why are you being like that about it? There's just no need. 🙁

@Shiningstarr What do you think happens at 5pm on a Friday? They all go home and come back Monday? Consultants are in 7 days a week and yes I know I am in ICU so it is different, but our Cons will stay all night if necessary

I am sorry you are going through this OP, I hope you get some answers soon x

Consultants in acute specialities definitely work nights and weekends, on a rota basis. As mentioned above, they obviously have to reduce clinics/operating days in the weeks when they are oncall.

Depending on the set up of the hospital/speciality, the consultant may be 'non-resident oncall' i.e oncall from home, if their registrar needs them. When they do this in many specialities they may be oncall for 24 hours plus at a time and we've had consultants come in to operate in the night and then have to turn up for their usual list the following morning.

Regardless, it sounds like a horrible situation for you and your relative OP and I'm so sorry to hear it. Paediatric neurology is definitely not my area, but I do have faith that your doctors would have chased the report, if it would have changed the immediate management. Either way, I hope you get the results soon as waiting for news in such circumstances is awful.

OP I'm sorry you are going through something so difficult.

To add to what others have said - it's very unlikely there is truly no one around to read it, there will be capacity for reporting urgent scans at weekends. However, it may not be a specialist in paediatric or neurological radiology, who would be the best people to report it depending on the set up in the hospital. If they are not planning to do anything new over the weekend clinically based on the scan (eg operate etc) it is better if it gets reported by the specialists. I'm sorry that means you are waiting longer though.

Try 6 weeks waiting for tumour testing!

Im so sorry OP. As said, Consultants do work weekends and weekend and out of hours is done by a rota. I would imagine the Consultant is sick or on leave / sick leave. There just aren't enough Consultants in certain specialities. The NHS is a very difficult place to work and staff are leaving in droves to work overseas or retiring early. It is impossible to recruit - Consultants take 10-12 years to train. Write to your MP rather than the hospital department.

@RhythmStick, the best way to approach this is to call the hospital and ask for your DC's consultant's secretary - do this first thing tomorrow.
When you get put through, firstly ask for their name and their direct dial number.
When you have got that information, ask them how soon it will be before you get a report.
Establishing that contact will allow you to have a more direct pathway to information in the future.
You will also be able to tell them how concerned you are and it might help to prioritise the information for you.
I hope you are able to get some information as soon as possible.

I'm sorry you are experiencing this.
I know that the backlog for almost everything in my local hospital is horrendous (family member works there). Whole departments have been off sick at the same time in the last few months. It may just be that they are trying their hardest to get the most urgent ones done and reported but are overwhelmed. Which I know is no comfort when it's you or a family member who is waiting for answers.

PALs may be able to get it done more quickly if you contact them tomorrow and explain your concerns.

I work in paeds however not in a childrens hospital so no paeds mri where I am. However we do have consultants on at the weekend 9-5 if needed. Another consultant is on call overnight they work on a rota so every night they take turns, there is also second on call if the ward is busy they do the ward round and re examine every patient every day and work out a plan seems usual to have no dr examining a patient in an acute setting.

also seems unusual to request an mri and not discuss what they are looking for and the treatment plan whilst doing so…speak to the nurses and ask them to speak to the SPreg on the unit for more information. Seems very sloppy re sharing information