Hospital trusts across the country in areas including Oxford, Bath and London all issued alerts this year over shortages of radioactive material, which led to scans being delayed or cancelled.
In one instance, hundreds of urgent radiology cancer scans were delayed when two major UK laboratories – one in Wales and one on the south coast of England – closed for three months. A combination of these closures due to lack of staff and funding, as well as faltering imports from the EU, has led to a “perfect storm” of supply shortages, health chiefs have warned.
Jilly Croasdale, president of the British Nuclear Medicine Society (BNMS), and Dr Katharine Halliday, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, both raised concerns.
Radioactive chemicals are commonly used to detect diseases such as prostate and bone cancer and to check to see if they have spread. NHS data shows more than 317,000 of these types of nuclear medicine tests were carried out by the NHS in 2023-24.
The average time between a request and a test being carried out hit 25 days in June this year, a slight dip from January last year – when waits hit 28 days. Before 2023, the average time for a test did not exceed 22 days.
But in some hospitals this year, such as The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, University Hospital Southampton and Harrogate District Hospital, the average time taken to test a patient exceeded 50 days. One trust, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, hit 108 days.
Ms Croasdale, who is also head of radiopharmacy and associate director of healthcare science for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, said the delays meant people were left waiting weeks to find out if their cancer had spread.
Speaking to The Independent, she blamed a recent shortage on the closure of two of the biggest labs working on these materials for up to three months.
Esta historia es de la edición September 09, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 09, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Joshua is 'willing to die' in Wembley battle of Britain
Anthony Joshua has insisted that he is ready to “give everything to be victorious” against Daniel Dubois on Saturday, as the Britons clash at Wembley Stadium.
City's man for all occasions.could be named world No 1
Rodri may be first defensive midfielder to win Ballon d'Or
Liverpool overcome poor start to beat Milan in style
Another first for Arne Slot at Liverpool, and one that was much more significant than a debut win in this new Champions League.
Guardian parent company in talks to sell Observer
The Guardian Media Group (GMG) is in talks to sell The Observer newspaper to Tortoise Media, a news business launched in 2019 by a former BBC executive. The media giant is in exclusive discussions to sell the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
'People can have a fantastic.second act. I'm living mine'
Actor and comic Omid Djalili is back for a fiery new stand-up tour. He tells Helen Coffey how he managed to channel rage into humour and why he's not leaving comedy to the young
Islamist party makes shock return to Kashmiri politics
Observers split on motivation of Jamaat-e-Islami, banned under terror laws and which boycotted elections for 30 years
US rapper charged with sex trafficking and racketeering
Sean \"Diddy\" Combs, the rapper and music mogul who has faced allegations of sexual abuse, was charged with racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to a federal indictment unsealed yesterday.
Suspect in Trump shooting lurked for hours in bushes
The gunman accused of trying to assassinate Donald Trump hid in the bushes of the former president's Florida golf club for almost 12 hours, according to officials.
'I am a rapist', says husband of sexually abused woman
A French man accused of drugging his wife and recruiting dozens of strangers to rape her over a decade has declared in court: “I am a rapist, like everyone else in this courtroom.”
Hezbollah vows to retaliate after pager attack kills nine
Officials in Lebanon and Syria blame Israel for the explosions