Public patients waiting up to eight weeks for simple X-rays

ACCESSING radiology services is proving increasingly difficult for family doctors, forcing some public patients to wait up to eight weeks for a simple bone X-ray, a new study has found.

An examination of the Structure of General Practice in Ireland 1982-2005 shows access to radiology has declined by 6% for chest X-rays and by as much as 14% for skeletal X-rays.

Prof Tom O’Dowd, one of the study’s authors, said an “NTPF-type arrangement” may be necessary to treat the growing number of patients waiting for X-rays — where the National Treatment Purchase Fund would pay for the patient to go private if he/she was waiting an inordinately long length of time.