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Health has sought to reassure islanders that there is "no issue" with the Hospital MRI machine in diagnosing prostate cancer after a £64,000 external report recommended that the current equipment should be updated.
Last week, a Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) report revealed further issues within Jersey's radiology and orthopaedic departments.
The report was authored by Professor Tim Briggs, Graham Lomax, Dan Pearce from GIRFT, a UK programme that focuses on improving the quality of care within healthcare settings by reducing unnecessary variations.
A total of 36 recommendations were outlined by the reviewers, who visited the Hospital for two days in April 2024.
Pictured: Reviewers were told that the software on the Hospital's MRI scanner requires updating as currently it is not possible to screen for prostate cancer.
One of the key recommendations raised in the review was that Jersey General Hospital should “undertake a review of current equipment and upgrade where necessary”.
In the report, reviewers said: “We were told that the equipment is old and the software on MRI scanner requires updating as currently it is not possible to screen for prostate cancer.”
The Health Department has now hit back at the claims made in the report, pointing out that there is no screening programme for prostate cancer in Jersey or the UK because there is currently no reliable test which can detect prostate cancer at an early stage.
A statement from Health and Community Services explained: “We would like to reassure islanders that there is no issue with our MRI machine in diagnosing prostate cancer.
“The GIRFT report recommends that HCS review its current equipment as currently it cannot screen for prostate cancer.
"However, it must be pointed out that there is no screening programme for prostate cancer in Jersey, nor is there one in the UK.
"This is because at the moment there is no reliable test which can detect prostate cancer at an early stage.
“If a reliable screening test was developed, we would investigate whether it could be introduced to Jersey.”
Pictured: "It must be pointed out that there is no screening programme for prostate cancer in Jersey, nor is there one in the UK," said Health.
A new trial to gather evidence on screening methods to detect prostate cancer is set to be led by researchers at Imperial College London, working alongside UCL, Queen Mary University of London and the Institute of Cancer Research.
The £42million trial is backed by charity Prostate Cancer UK, and is hoping to see its first results within three years.
Currently, patients who are concerns about prostate cancer in Jersey can attend their GP for a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test.
If the PSA result is raised, the patient is referred to the Urology Department for further investigations.
These investigations could include an MRI scan of the prostate, and, if an abnormality detected, a prostate biopsy.
Express has contacted GIRFT for comment.
INSIGHT: £64k report exposes radiology and orthopaedic concerns
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