Independent inquiry into Worcestershire hospitals' 11,000 X-rays backlog

Worcestershire Royal Hospital's says it aims to clear the X-rays backlog by October

An independent inquiry will look into why a hospital trust had a backlog of 11,000 X-ray results.

An unannounced inspection found Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust failed to make reports of the X-rays.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) raised concerns of potentially delayed treatments.

The trust said it is commissioning an "independent peer review into radiology services".

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The CQC inspected the radiology departments of the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital on 27 July.

It has not yet published its findings. The trust was rated inadequate by the CQC in December.

Chris Tidman, chief executive of the trust, said it accepted the delays were "unacceptable" and it was using the issue as an "opportunity" to put arrangements in place for "stronger governance" of the radiology team.

"Due to increasing pressures on our radiology department, priority has been given to the more complex scans, such as CT, MRI and ultrasounds, leading to a recent increase," he said.

"As a result, we have now provided increased capacity such that the reports overdue by more than two weeks has now reduced to 6,300, and a plan is in place to clear this backlog by October."