Northern Trust radiologist review identifies 43 discrepancies

A review of the work of a former locum consultant radiologist in the Northern Trust has, so far, identified discrepancies in a total of 43 cases.

The trust says six of these are at the most serious level, and could have had "immediate and significant clinical impact" on patients.

A full lookback review of 13,030 radiology images began in June.

It came after the General Medical Council raised concerns about the locum consultant radiologist's work.

The doctor worked at hospitals run by the Northern Health Trust between July 2019 and February 2020.

More than 9,000 patients have been contacted as part of the review. Breast services are not affected.

A radiologist analyses images such as X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans and MRIs.

• Over 9,000 patients contacted in review

• 'Major discrepancies' in radiologist review

Of the images, 7,902 (60.6%) have been looked at to date.

More than 4,000 people have been told their images have raised no concerns.

'Major discrepancies'

"Most of the images categorised as having Level One and Level Two major discrepancies are CT scans but some are MRI scans, chest X-rays and other X-rays," said the trust's medical director, Seamus O'Reilly.

"We have identified Level One discrepancies in a total of six images. Level One discrepancies are errors or omissions in reporting which could have had immediate and significant clinical impact for the patients concerned.

"In addition, we have identified a further 37 images with Level 2 discrepancies, i.e. reporting errors or omissions with probable impact for patients."

The trust says images where concerns are classed as Level One and Level Two are reviewed on a weekly basis by a group of experts. They also consider some images categorised as Level Three, where a clinical impact is unlikely.

The trust hopes to complete the review by October.