The ZNA Cadix hospital in Antwerp has suspended its full team of seven radiologists due to serious concerns about the quality of their work, according to an article posted on 7 June by a national broadcaster. An audit of 1,300 exams found that errors were made for 24 patients, the report says.
Several doctors from inside and outside the hospital raised initial concerns with Dr. Katrien Bervoets, medical director of ZNA Cadix, about the quality of medical imaging studies, leading to an audit, stated VRT, the national public broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium.
The ZNA Cadix is located in ’t Eilandje, Antwerp, near Park Spoor Noord. The hospital opened in September 2023. It expects to treat 200,000 patients a year and has 1,200 staff and 385 beds plus an outpatient unit with 43 spaces. It replaced the Stuivenberg Hospital, which closed its doors after 138 years. Courtesy of Belga News Agency / Alamy Stock Photo.
The first results of the investigation show that the quality of medical imaging did not always meet the hospital's strict quality standards and not all diagnoses were complete or accurate enough. The audit included x-ray, CT, and MRI exams that were carried out between January and March 2024 at ZNA Cadix, its predecessor ZNA Stuivenberg, and ZNA Sint-Erasmus, the report noted. Among the errors found by independent external experts were a missed bone fracture, a dilated blood vessel that was not detected, and a tumor that was measured incorrectly.
The suspension of the radiologists is only a temporary measure, at least until the investigation is complete, VRT said. According to Bervoets, "For us, the safety of the patients is the most important thing. That is why we did not hesitate to intervene immediately. We do not want and cannot wait for the final report of the medical audit. We will investigate this thoroughly."
Tom Van de Vreken, a spokesperson for ZNA Cadix, said the errors were certainly not due to the devices. "The quality is beyond dispute, these are the newest devices on the market," he said. "This is a preliminary decision, and we are now waiting for the final report. The hospital does not want to comment on whether it means that all radiologists have made mistakes or not."
Hospital management has hastily replaced the team with other radiologists from within the ZNA network, which comprises a total of 50 radiologists, and with radiologists from a sister network, and the 24 patients for whom an error was made have already been notified. Whether the errors have had any consequences for the patients will be examined on a case-by-case basis. Some errors -- such as the missed bone fracture -- were immediately noticed and corrected by the attending physician.
The plan now is to review and analyze all images from the past 12 months to see if the radiologists have missed anything and whether new images need to be taken, VRT pointed out. The hospital also wants to ensure as many planned examinations as possible take place, although exams may have to be performed on a different campus due to limited capacity.
The hospital has now put information on its website and set up a helpline for patients. All patients affected will be personally notified, VRT reported.
