In December, 2020, the 大象传媒 Shared Data Unit reported millions of people missed out on potentially life-saving scans when non-Covid-19 NHS services almost ground to a halt during the pandemic.
Analysis of official figures found at least 4.4m fewer diagnostic imaging scans were carried out in England in the six months between April and September 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.
Analysis also revealed a wide variation in how hospitals were rebuilding capacity.
In one hospital, almost 80% of patients were waiting more than six weeks for a scan compared to zero in 2020.
In the North West, one in three patients were waiting more than six weeks for a scan, compared to one in five in the South East.
In Scotland, almost half (47%) of those in need of key diagnostic tests in Scotland were waiting more than the six-week recommended limit.
While the NHS and professional bodies said hospitals were forced to cancel elective appointments to limit patients in wards, the pandemic exposed flaws in the health service鈥檚 ability to diagnose serious conditions early, experts said.
Two top radiologists said an historical lack of staff, as well as a shortage in CT and MRI scanners, had been 鈥渆xacerbated鈥� by Covid-19.
Methodology
For England we used two statistical datasets released by NHS England: the monthly Diagnostic Imaging Dataset (DID) and the monthly waiting times and activity dataset (DM01).
We used the DID to compare the overall number of diagnostic scans carried out at hospital trusts over a six month period - April to September, 2020. We then compared the totals with the same period in 2019. We also collected waiting times figures for the same period of time.
Waiting times data was also obtained for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the same six-month period.
Data
We shared a , which included:
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Analysis of waiting time figures for diagnostic scans in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, including breakdowns by region and by trust.
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Analysis of the total scans carried out during the first six months of the pandemic in England, compared to the same period in 2019. These are broken down by trust and region.
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Expert comments from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), The British Institute for Radiology (BIR) and Cancer Research UK.
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Responses to the figures from NHS England, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.
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A containing trust-level figures in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Partner usage
The story was featured on 大象传媒 Online, 大象传媒 Radio Four, 大象传媒 Radio Two, and regional radio stations across the UK.
The 大象传媒 Shared Data Unit makes data journalism available to the wider news industry as part of the 大象传媒 Local News Partnership.
Stories written in print and online by partners based on this research included:
- The Bolton News: 18 December 2020
- Kidderminster Shuttle: 20 December 2020
- You Harlow: 19 December 2020
- Bromsgrove Advertiser 20 December 2020
- Island Echo: 20 December 2020
- In Your Area: 17 December 2020
- On the Wight: 17 December 2020
- Northampton Chronicle and Echo: 17 December 2020
- County Press: 17 December 2020
- Yorkshire Post: 17 December 2020
- Wirral Globe: 17 December 2020
- Portsmouth News: 17 December 2020
- ITV News: 17 December 2020
- Leader Live: 17 December 2020
- Worcester News: 17 December 2020
- Epping Forest Guardian: 22 December 2020
- Guildford Dragon: 31 December 2020
- Wigan Today: 1 January 2021
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