Patients may experience increased wait times for diagnostic scans in non-hospital locations this year due to a restructuring by the Health Service Executive (HSE) of the programme managed by general practitioners (GPs). The initiative enables GPs to direct patients for specific examinations such as MRIs or X-rays at predominantly private centres without navigating through the hospital system.
While fewer imaging scans will be conducted this year compared to the previous year, the number of lab tests will increase, according to the health body. Introduced in January 2021, this GP access scheme aimed to facilitate family doctors’ direct access to diagnostic testing and imaging for their patients.
But the HSE now perceives excessive and potentially inappropriate use of the service in certain circumstances. As the programme developed, the HSE commented on Tuesday, concerns arose over the suitability and overutilisation of some tests. This prompted the creation of a fast-reference guide for GPs, concentrating on the use of distinct imaging types for varying clinical problems.
The new guide is intended to help GPs justify imaging studies for the typical clinical matters dealt with in typical daytime practices. The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) will also be consulted for a webinar scheduled for next month.
Approximately 515,000 tests and scans were undertaken through the scheme last year, the HSE stated on Tuesday. This consisted of 182,000 tests and 333,000 imaging scans. Funding scale for diagnostic imaging last year was only possible as the predicted level of diagnostic test activity was not achieved.
Effectively, the funds initially allocated for testing were repurposed to enhance the volume of diagnostic images under the radiology part of the scheme. “The resources were utilised to augment planned radiology activity in 2023, thus diminishing waiting times to less than three months for routine scans,” stated the HSE.
By 2024, the diagnostic testing activity is expected to become fully functional, and a rebalance between imaging and testing is planned, hoping to reach an end-of-year activity of 530,000 (including tests and scans).
The Health Service Executive (HSE) disclosed that a total of 260,000 tests along with 270,000 images will be composed. Contrary to any limitation on the number of tests or imaging a General Practitioner (GP) can prescribe, potential impacts on the waiting times may occur, according to a statement provided to The Irish Times.
Early in the year, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly stated that under the general practitioner access to community diagnostics scheme, family physicians have the ability to directly refer their patients for testing, involving X-ray, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These services, he clarified, are offered at no expense to the patient and are accessible to the entire adult population.
The demand for community radiology diagnostics delivered through the scheme has seen a significant rise, more than double, since its initiation in 2021. As per Donnelly’s statement, there’s been a notable increase in the number of radiology scans carried out within these years, surpassing their annual targets – from 138,000 in 2021 (against a goal of 94,000), to 250,000 in 2022 (against a goal of 195,000), and further reaching over 331,000 in 2023 (surpassing the goal of 240,000).