MRI scanning service rated inadequate by watchdog
February 28, 2022
According to recent reports, an MRI scanning service has been issued with a warning notice to make “significant improvements” after inspectors rated it inadequate. These issues may lead to MRI scan negligence if the company do not take immediate action.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said it had concerns over processes at the service, which affected patient care.
During the announced inspection on 7 December 2021, CQC assessors found:
- Employees did not all have mandatory training in key skills, including how to safeguard patients
- Staff did not maintain records accurately, and a lack of clinical audits put “people at risk of harm”
- There were no recruitment processes to employ suitable staff and identify skills gaps, risking patient safety
- Mismanagement in running the service, including patient safety incidents
As a result, the CQC issued a warning notice which said InPhase needed to make “significant improvements to its governance processes”.
The company said it was working to correct the CQC’s concerns.
MRI Scan Negligence
Many patients expect MRI scans to be 100% accurate, but where human judgement and skill is required, there is always a risk of errors or misdiagnoses. The increasing complexity of the technology involved has made the job of a radiologist more challenging, especially in the duty of interpreting the images and making a diagnosis to refer to a surgical colleague or another doctor.
Unfortunately, this can lead to serious and potentially life-threatening errors of judgement.
The most common MRI scan errors generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Technical errors, involving a mistake made during the scanning process or a failure of the equipment itself. These risks increase when the hospital is experiencing staff shortages or budget cuts
- Errors of oversight, in which radiologists or other doctors fail to spot any abnormal or potentially concerning symptoms on a scan. This can cause delays in diagnosis
- Errors of interpretation, in which doctors spot an abnormality but come to the wrong conclusion about its meaning. This can result in treatment delays, or prescription of inappropriate therapies
- Communication or administrative issues, in which important findings from a scan are not properly reported and communicated to patients or other members of the medical team
Radiologists have a responsibility to communicate clearly and efficiently to medical colleagues and the patient, both in writing and in person, should they find any abnormality. If there is any likelihood of the condition being life-threatening, then swift action is essential. When this fails to happen patients can make a medical negligence claim for MRI scan negligence.
How We Can Help
Here at The Medical Negligence Experts, we work with solicitors who have years of experience dealing with medical negligence claims. This includes MRI scan negligence. So contact us today by filling in our contact form. Or call us on 01614138761 to speak to one of our friendly experts.