Scan delays

my 3 monthly scans always seem to be nearer 4 months then it takes another month to get the results. my last 3 scans have shown me as stable so I'm not panicking but it is very annoying and stressful at times. My local hospitals are running scans 6 days a week and longer hours to clear their back log but haven't increased the number of experts reviewing the scans so now the delay is getting the results back rather than waiting for a scan.

My  recent CT took two weeks to be assessed. Before the pandemic I had a CT scan for unrelated issues and it took 5 Weeks. Perhaps they prioritise urgent cases !?. I recall chasing up results directly with the radiology dept. It seemed to work for me. Best wishes

JC!!! They schedule my scan early enough on the day of my oncologist appt that they have the results in time to discuss, which usually means 9am scan and 2pm appt. They will schedule the scan the day before if I ask them. I think I'd lose my mind if I had to wait as long as you guys do. But, my hospital sees a lot of people who fly in or drive far for evaluation (I am close, I only have to drive an hour), so they are used to squeezing things into a few days. Also xrays and blood draws, at least at the main hospital, are first come first served, with results usually in an hour. Now, the down side of being able to squeeze people in is that there is *always* a wait, several hours for an appointment or chemo is not unusual. Appointment day is pretty much a full day, always. 

Turnaround time for scans etc for other conditions are vastly different, though, more like you guys' experience.

Sounds efficient. The medical system in UK is state-run unless we pay for certain private work. We therefore have to follow the process and have few other options.

Thanks for the responses. I know our hospital was very quick when I was an in-patient. A morning scan meant the results were there that evening. It's a different thing though when you're an out-patient. My main concerns are that on two occasions my scan appointments hadn't been made at all and it was only an enquiry from me that prompted action. I'm not sure who to call to actually chase the appointment I'm now waiting for. Oncologists secretary and my cancer nurse are able to make the requests for scans, but I haven't yet been able to discover the department that actually sends out the appointments.

Hi Rainie

This is so frustrating isn’t it. It was happening a lot and then somebody said to me, your body, your responsibility so take an active part. Now I’m a total pain in the arse and liaise between departments and set dates so they all work. Working for me so far!

sx

Hi @Rainieday

The failure to order scans is frustrating and it is not good to feel you have to chase it up, but maybe ringing the oncologists secretary a few days after your review might at least ease your mind that it has been ordered, and remind them if it hasnt. Delays in scan results are hard too, but there is a shortge of radiologists who do the reports in the Uk ( along with most other specialisms).

PatriciaV is in Texas so she is talking about a very different system where there is little free treatment, which we are so grateful for here. If you are dependent on an insurance based system  that is great while you can claim it from your health insurer, less so when you come up against refusal to cover costs, or loss of health insurance linked to your job. Our NHS has its flaws but many of them are down to years of underfunding and failure to recognise that if we want to have a gold plated service, we have to pay for it, and heaven forfend, but that means paying a bit more in tax. Politicians are not courageous enough to have that conversation sadly. I am so grateful for the treatment I have received over many years, and I know what I paid in over 40 years of working life, nowhere near covers the cost of treatments i have had over 2 episodes of cancer in 17 years. Rant over.

Hope your results come soon and they are positive.

Yep, God forbid you have a medical problem in the States if you're poor, out of work, or otherwise uninsured. There's no other western country in the world where you're one broken ankle away from bankruptcy.

The whole country's run for the benefit of the corporations, not the people. 

The appointments for review scans that I have had have both come within a week of my oncology appointment. So it's in my head to chase up if I don't hear. The frustrating bit is the length of time it takes to have the scan reported, it's taken over 10 working days each time so far.

I hope they expedite your appointment given the situation.

Best wishes 

Oops, did I do a dumb American thing? 

Sorry, I didn't mean to be like that. See my aside below. And scans and treatment are NOT this quick for all conditions, for sure, here (if you can afford them). 

But incurable cancer? Come on, we aren't talking knee replacements here! A delay of months could make a huge difference in treatment and outcome. Seems to me perfectly appropriate to do some double checking that they haven't made the same mistake again. Like every single time. That's all I'm saying. I watch my appts like a hawk (can see them online), because they have scheduled them at weird outlying clinics before, or forgotten to schedule all of them, or scheduled them so close together that there is no way I can make all of them. Also, by this point in treatment we know what is likely to happen in the system, like my pain meds after a surgery always seem to wear off in the middle of the night, a time when the "pain team" takes a while to get there to prescribe more, so we make sure to ask for a standing order for more pain meds before the daytime doc goes home. I even have to watch the outpatient medications I am prescribed - the pharmacy may be out of it and have it on back order, but may not get around to telling me right away, and if it's after office hours it's hard to have the rx sent to another pharmacy. So anything that I need right away, I call or go to the pharmacy well before the end of the day to make sure they have the med (and, yes, that my insurance will cover it). So I totally support you in being a squeaky wheel.

But I don't know, maybe it isn't done as much there, in which case ignore me. 

PatriciaV, the dumb American

Political aside: Don't get me wrong, I would prefer to have universal health insurance here. I think it's a much more humane system. And the idea that the government doesn't help out a LOT here is wrong, despite the rhetoric. I go to a state-funded university-based hospital in a big medical center that received lots of tax breaks to locate here. My private insurance (when I had it) was from working for the state of Texas - state and federal government jobs are known for having the best benefits. Even my (private) long-term disability insurance, on which I live, is a benefit I got during my job for the state. And we do have universal health insurance, for seniors, called Medicare. Which is actually what I have, because you can also qualify for it after 2 years or so of being disabled. During those two years, though, we had to pay for me to extend my health insurance from my job, which was about $1500 (1085 pounds) per month. I could have gone on my wife's insurance but hers was crappy and my care probably would have cost about the same after deductibles and co-pays and co-insurance, assuming the hospital even took the insurance.