Audit finds 34,000 X-rays never seen by a radiologist

A HSE audit has revealed that about 34,000 X-rays around the country were caught up in a backlog and had never been examined by a radiologist.

However the HSE says these are just 0.5% of the 2.5 million X-rays that were reported upon each year in the country’s 46 hospitals between 2008 and present.

When the HSE began its nationwide audit, following the Tallaght X-ray scandal last March, there was a backlog reported at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Connolly, Blanchardstown, Kerry General, Lourdes Orthopaedic Hospital, Kilcreene, St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny, Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise and Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children Crumlin.