The Department of Health in England has reported that more than 38 million diagnostic imaging examinations were performed between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011, an increase of 2.8% compared with the same time period a year before.
Four million CT exams, 2.1 million MRI exams, 22.2 million x-ray exams, and 8.6 million ultrasound exams were performed by National Hospital Service (NHS) providers in England during this financial year 2010/11.
The number of patients waiting lengthy periods of time has increased significantly for CT and MRI exams. During the month of June 2011, 670 patients had waited at least six weeks for a CT exam, whereas in June 2010, there were only 215 patients who waited for an exam. Similarly, 75 patients had waited 13 weeks for a CT exam in June 2011, compared with three weeks in June 2010.
The number of patients waiting lengthy times also increased significantly for MRI exams, from 374 patients waiting at least six weeks in June 2010 to 1,082 in June 2011. Three patients had waited 13 weeks in June 2010; this soared to 309 patients the same month one year later.
During December 2010, January 2011, and May 2011, the number of patients waiting at least six weeks for a MRI exam topped 2,100. By comparison, the largest number of patients waiting at least six weeks for a CT exam occurred in April and May 2011 at 705 and 813, respectively.
The Department of Health also calculates diagnostic imaging wait times for nonobstetric ultrasound examinations, barium enemas, and bone densitometry, as well as seven nonradiology procedures.
