NHS has cut diagnostic waiting times; now it needs to ensure services are efficient

The NHS in Scotland has significantly cut patients’ waiting times for diagnostic tests through use of targeted additional government funding and changes to how it manages and delivers services.

An Audit Scotland report published today, Review of NHS diagnostic services, focuses on specific radiology, endoscopy and laboratory services, which provide more than 87 million procedures and tests a year at a cost of more than £280 million.

The report says that the number of patients waiting more than nine weeks for key tests has fallen from 10,638 in July 2006 to two patients in July 2008. NHS boards have achieved these reductions by using £50 million additional government funding and making longer-term improvements to how they provide services.

The report found that efficiency of diagnostic services varies across boards and there is scope for NHS boards to make better use of resources. It also found that the NHS needs better information to compare the efficiency of services across boards.

NHS boards are taking measures to improve patient experience of diagnostic services. Patients having endoscopy procedures are getting better quality of care and hospitals performed well in how quickly they carry out inpatient CT (Computerised tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans). But the time it takes to report radiology and laboratory test results varies across hospitals. NHS boards could do more to offer patients choice of appointment date and time.

Caroline Gardner, the Deputy Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Diagnostic services help patients get an accurate diagnosis and the right treatment. Delays mean patients have symptoms and are anxious for longer and treatments may be less effective.

“The NHS has significantly cut diagnostic waiting times. The challenge now is to continue to improve diagnostic services as the NHS faces shorter waiting times targets.

“A lot of money is spent on diagnostic services and the NHS needs to ensure efficiency of these high cost services”.