Patients waiting for a CT scan at Derriford Hospital in Devon are facing major delays.
One in six patients have exceeded the required waiting time limit, with the hospital blaming the backlog on staff shortages, a rise in demand and the recent replacement of a scanner.
One such patient is cancer sufferer Daniel Pearce who has had two tumours surgically removed. He must have a CT scan every six months for his condition to be properly monitored.
He was supposed to undergo a scan in June, but has been told he will have to wait until at least September.
Mr Pearce said: There isn’t any excuse for this…We need to know when I’m going to get that scan and when everyone else is going to get theirs.”
In total, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has 2,534 patients waiting for a CT scan, 404 of which have exceeding the required waiting time, which is currently six weeks.
Kevin Baber, chief operating officer for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “At present our waiting times for patients needing a CT scan is longer than we would like it to be and some of our patients are waiting longer than they should be.
“We appreciate this is hard for them and want to apologise for any distress and anxiety this maybe causing. We are doing everything we can to reduce the waiting times and to see as many patients as we can.”
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