Critical delays in cancer scans spark concern at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Doctors at Royal Prince Alfred, one of Australia's top-ranking hospitals in Sydney, have warned that cancer patient care is now being put at risk. See why.

Cancer patients at Australia’s top ranked hospital have been left waiting weeks without crucial radiological scans revealing whether their cancer has spread, according to concerned doctors.

Significant delays in reporting cancer risks found in scans are also occurring at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse dedicated cancer treatment centre, and the problems have been known since last year according to doctors who spoke out at a Royal Prince Alfred (RPA) Medical Staff Council meeting this week.

It is understood more than 60 doctors attended the meeting and were told patient care is being put at risk from the shortages of radiologists and also anaesthetists.

A respected doctor told the meeting patients are turning up for appointments with their treating doctor only to find there were no reports back from radiologists revealing whether their cancer had spread or not.

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) in Camperdown. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Doctors who raised issues at the meeting about the delays and shortages of staff were told everything possible was being done to fix the problems and minimise any risk to patients.

They were also advised to raise the issue at the Safety and Quality Committee to make sure it was listed as a risk. But others said the problem has been known about since late last year and had never been recognised or registered as a risk.

Associate Professor Roger Garsia, acting chairman of the RPAH Medical Staff Council said the meeting discussed how staff levels in radiology and anaesthetics have been reduced by leave, furlough and public system-wide shortages.

“The council heard that the issues were being prioritised in recruitment strategies, locally and statewide, but advised that the shortages be escalated on the LHD’s (Local health District) risk register as potentially affecting the capacity of the hospital to maintain its record of achieving the key benchmarks in patient care,” Associate Professor Garsia said.

“It is known that there are delays in reporting some radiology tests. However, in addition to ensuring that radiologists are available for urgent reports, the medical imaging service is recruiting successfully.

“I recommended that any clinician concerned about an impact on patient care should escalate the incident through the range of systems available.”

Doctors spoke out after similar concerns have been raised at Concord Hospital where there is a growing backlog of 40,000 radiological scans.

A Concord Medical Staff Council meeting earlier this month attended by more than 120 doctors was told the backlog of reports on radiology scans was caused by major staff shortages.

The meeting was told one third of staff specialist radiologists had left in the past eight months and a total of 14 had left in the past three years.

But the meeting also heard that many examples of why staff had left were hidden behind secrecy clauses imposed by the administration.

The meeting which had been set up to mediate issues at Concord Hospital, heard from doctors and nurses who alleged they were threatened with breaches of code of conduct by superiors if they spoke out.

One doctor said Concord Hospital is on the brink of collapse and had been left in some cases with equipment which had been so old the manufacturer told them to stop using it because it could be inaccurate, and it could have opened up the hospital to medico/legal action.

Health minister Ryan Park announced an independent process in an attempt to resolve a litany of problems at Concord Hospital. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Simon Bullard

But when he raised the issue the doctor claims he was told to “shut up” and was threatened with facing a breach of code of conduct if he talked about it.

Health Minister Ryan Park announced an independent process in an attempt to resolve a litany of problems at Concord Hospital after a vote of no confidence in the chief executive Teresa Anderson.

A spokesman for the Sydney Local health District said “Sydney Local Health District and its Board remain fully committed to the process.”

Sources have already revealed that a number of medical staff had been warned off speaking at the Concord staff meeting.

That is despite staff previously speaking out about the culture of bullying and fear and a spokesman for Mr Park promising “participants can rest assured that they will be safe and listened to, and outcomes acted upon.”

Originally published as Critical delays in cancer scans spark concern at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital