1,000 CUH patients wait 9 months for MRI scan

More than 1,000 patients are waiting nine months for a routine MRI scan at Cork University Hospital, a situation exacerbated by the transfer of additional acute services to CUH from other hospitals in the region.

CUH group chief executive Tony McNamara said the closure of the emergency department at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and an increase in the number of specialist consultants at CUH had also had a bearing on the increase in demand for MRI imaging. This was particularly true of areas such as neurology, cancer tumours and the symptomatic breast service, said Mr McNamara.

The nine-month wait is an increase on the average wait of 200 days recorded in 2010 at CUH and criticised at the time by the HSE’s HealthStat performance monitoring unit.