France's private radiology network VIDI has revealed that its 900 members experienced an 80% reduction in their activity during the first COVID-19 lockdown. A significant reduction occurred in breast cancer screening at its facilities, as well as for other pathologies because some CT scanners were reserved for COVID-19 patients.
VIDI has renewed its efforts to avoid delayed cancer diagnoses, and it has again called on patients to make appointments for non-COVID-19 symptoms. Delayed cancer diagnoses due to the pandemic have had dramatic consequences for patients, the group announced on 9 February, and patients should not wait to get checked.
Diagnosis is the first step to therapy decisions and early detection allows curative treatment, the network's president Alain Guillemot said in a statement. VIDI members have put hygiene measures in place for optimal patient safety at imaging facilities and have adapted opening hours to best meet patient needs, he added.
