5,000 cut in ultrasound wait list a 'massive improvement'

Some patients had been forced to turn to private sector for test

- Phil Corrigan [e-mail]

THE number of patients waiting for an ultrasound test at Staffordshire's main hospital trust has been slashed by 5,000 in just four months.

More than 15,500 people were waiting for a non-obstetric ultrasounds at University Hospitals of North Midlands in June, but this figure has now fallen to just 10,563.

And the number of patients waiting longer than 13 weeks has been halved from 7,000 to 3,466.

Ultrasound has accounted for the vast majority of long waits for diagnostic tests at UHNM, with some patients being driven to pay up to £300 in the private sector.

UHNM board members were told that there had been 'significant' progress in reducing the ultrasound waiting list since June.