Concord Hospital shock as huge backlog puts patients at risk

A massive backlog of more than 25,000 radiology scans at Concord Hospital are putting patients at risk. It comes as local district health boss Teresa Anderson is under scrutiny.

A massive backlog of more than 25,000 radiology scans at Concord Hospital looking for health issues including potential cancers, are putting patients at risk. Picture / Monique Harmer

• Sydney health district CEO under scrutiny: What we know

A massive backlog of more than 25,000 radiology scans at Concord Hospital looking for health issues including potential cancers, are putting patients at risk, according to concerned doctors.

The revelations about the backlog come as experts warn it will take more than 4000 hours to clear the scans and that doesn’t take into account the new scans being done every day.

Radiologists have explained that it takes at the very least 10 minutes for qualified radiologist to look at and write reports on the scans.

Delays can put patients at risk including a cancer spreading before they get a proper diagnosis from the scan.

Exterior of Concord Hospital, Sydney. Supplied

The problems in the Radiology Department are just one of a number of problems that have boiled over at Concord Hospital, sparking a vote of no confidence in the chief executive of the Sydney Local Health District (SLHD), Dr Teresa Anderson.

A spokesman for Dr Anderson said the “SLHD takes each of these matters seriously and will investigate every claim.”

The spokesman for Dr Anderson said they are having difficulty recruiting radiologists because there is a nationwide shortage.

“The hospital has been actively pursuing other means to report these scans such as outsourcing the scans to private radiology companies and establishing a district-wide medical image reporting service to clear the backlog,” the spokesman said.

Sydney Local Health District Chief Executive Dr Teresa Anderson. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The Minister for Health Ryan Park said he encourages all staff to report any concerns and those who do report concerns will be supported.

“I am always keen to hear from our frontline health workers on how we can do things better and the Health System Advisory Council, which I announced this week will allow clinicians to help drive improvements in our hospital system,” he said.

The latest damning revelation comes on top of news that Conditions are so bad at Concord Hospital, which is reportedly littered with broken phones and computers, just one third of its doctors surveyed would recommend going there, according to a shocking new report.

Almost half of those doctors admitted they had made fatigue-induced errors while working there. And more than 60 per cent said they feared for their health and safety because of their working conditions.

The bleak scorecard for Concord Hospital was revealed in the Hospital Health Check annual survey by the peak medical body the Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW.