Review of radiology service due to be published

Jersey's Health Minister Deputy Tom Binet

The health minister has said a review of Jersey's radiology service will be published on Thursday.

Concerns about the department emerged in June when it came to light that some women had been given false negatives after breast cancer screenings.

States Members asked Deputy Tom Binet why the independent reviews had not been published earlier, given his department had them since January.

The minister said he had not been aware of the reviews until March and added: "There was a great deal else going on at the time and this wasn't top of my priority list."

'Carefully considered approach'

The Royal College of Radiology report is due to be published on Thursday with an accompanying action plan.

A summary report on the British Society of Breast radiologist report will also be released alongside an action plan.

Mr Binet apologised for the delay and said: "I had no intention of withholding information for any specific purpose."

He added: "I'm now acutely aware of the need of a carefully considered approach to such matters.

"I'm currently working on a development of a short specific protocol to ensure that I and future health ministers, if they choose to adopt it, have a recognised method timeline to deal with the publication of reports and reviews."