The radiology industry is tonight facing new scrutiny after 7NEWS revealed Australian hospitals and clinic scans are being sent overseas.
One man, who wants to remain anonymous, claims his cancer was missed in a scan sent interstate as part of the offshore diagnostic process.
“It took about four or five months for me to find out that I actually had a kidney cancer that nobody knew about,” he said.
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The scan was originally performed in Adelaide before being sent to a doctor in New South Wales for reporting.
Documents seen by 7NEWS show the original report made no mention of a renal lesion. However the doctor who later reviewed another scan two months afterwards said the lesion was present on the earlier images.
By the time doctors discovered it, the patient says his treatment had already been sent down a different path.
“For me there was a missed cancer diagnosis that led my treating team down a different pathway that meant I got treatments that weren’t indicated for that type of treatment,” he said.
The discovery left him fearing the worst.
“There was a time there where I thought I wasn’t going to be eligible for this life-saving treatment and I was shopping around for funeral plans,” he said. “I was rewriting my will and I was preparing for the worst.”
The patient has joined others in the industry raising concerns about the growing use of interstate and overseas reporting in medical imaging.
“I don’t think in today’s in Australia’s health system that we should be sending this sort of work offshore,” he said.
Some operators of MRI scanners unregistered
But concerns are now emerging about more than who reads the scans. Medical imaging professionals say attention should also focus on who is conducting them.
The Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMIRT) says there are cases where MRI scanners may be operated by people who are not registered medical radiation practitioners.
“There is a number of practices that we know of in a couple of states where people who aren’t trained radiographers or medical radiation practitioners that are registered are actually operating this equipment,” ASMIRT president Naomi Gibson said.
In a statement, the industry body warned the “practice presents an unacceptable risk and undermines the safety standards expected within the Australian healthcare system”.
Naomi Gibson told 7NEWS that MRI technology is complex and requires specialist training, as small changes can affect the accuracy of images.
“It’s such a complex and high-risk medical imaging modality that we actually do need to have people that are appropriately trained and qualified,” she said.
“It’s not just knowing which buttons to press, it’s actually knowing the consequences of what you’re doing.”
She stressed, patient safety must remain the priority.
“No patient passing away due to a human error or an accident related to something is acceptable as far as we’re concerned, and the safety of our community is where we focus.”
Doctors say workforce shortages across the system are increasing pressure on imaging services.
The patient who spoke to 7NEWS says mistakes in scans can have serious consequences.
“We all know people aren’t perfect and no one demands perfection, but when these mistakes are made they have real consequences,” he said.
The case is now the subject of legal action.
