Patients put in danger after junior doctors were left to interpret thousands of X-rays including some for suspected cancer

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Patients suffered ‘significant harm’ after junior doctors were left to interpret tens of thousands of x-rays - including those for suspect cancer.

The error was uncovered by the Care Quality Commission during an inspection of the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, after a patient raised the alarm.

The watchdog has now launched a national review into all hospital x-ray departments to ensure the same mistakes aren’t happening elsewhere.

The Care Quality Commission discovered junior doctors examined tens of thousands of x-rays, including those of cancer sufferers at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth 

The review found that three patients suffered life-threatening harm as a result, file photo

Hospitals will be ordered to provide figures on the number of patients waiting for results, staffing levels and details on who is interpreting the scans.

Inspectors went into the hospital after a member of the public raised concerns that scans were being wrongly interpreted

They discovered that almost 30,000 x-rays had been reviewed by junior doctors and three serious incidents where patients had suffered life-threatning harm.

In two patients, lung cancer had spread to other areas of the body because junior doctors had not detected tumours on the initial x-ray.

They went back to their GPs a year later complaining of symptoms and had second x-rays where radiologist confirmed the cancer.

X-rays are meant to be reviewed by radiologists, specialist doctors who have undergone three years’ of extra training.

But severe staffing problems at the hospital dating back to 2007 meant that junior doctors were left in charge of interpreting them.

Inspectors found that between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017, some 26,345 chest x-rays and 2,167 abdomen x-rays had not been properly reviewed by a radiologist or another ‘appropriately trained’ doctor.

The hospital trust is one of the busiest in the UK and treats around 132,000 patients a year.

But its A&E unit was rated inadequate in June 2016 and last August it was given another formal warning by the CQC over ‘very poor care’ in certain wards.

Professor Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said: ‘When a patient is referred for an x-ray or scan, it is important that the resulting images are examined and reported on by properly trained clinical staff who know what they are looking for - this is a specialist skill.

‘During our inspection of Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, however, some junior doctors told us that they had been given responsibility for reviewing chest and abdomen x-rays without appropriate training although they felt that they were not competent or confident to do so.

‘We then learned of some cases where signs of lung cancer were missed, with serious consequences for the patients involved. This is clearly unacceptable.

‘We told the trust to take urgent action to address the backlog of images which had not been reviewed by a radiologist or trained clinician, identify any patients who may have suffered harm, and report progress to us on a weekly basis - which they have been doing.

‘We are aware that radiology reporting practice varies among trusts; a clearer national picture is needed to ensure that other patients are not being put at risk. I have written to all trusts requiring them to provide us with details so that we can assess the national situation and consider if further action is required. I will report on those findings once this work is completed.’

Dr Nicola Strickland, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: ‘Patient x-rays must be viewed as quickly as possible by a radiologist or appropriately trained clinician.

‘That the Queen Alexandra Hospital encouraged staff who were not suitably trained to review them, in an attempt to manage its sheer volume of unreported scans, is a concern.’

Mark Cubbon, chief executive of Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust, said: ‘We have issued an unreserved apology to the families of the three patients who experienced harm because of the delays to their care.

‘It is of deep regret to all of us that we did not deliver the high standards of care everyone should expect from our hospital.