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The recall of 20 women for breast screenings amid fears that a radiologist misdiagnosed them is just one of several "issues" in the Radiology Department currently being investigated – and Express is aware of at least three other areas of care in the wider hospital coming under close scrutiny.
Responding to a number of urgent questions in the States Assembly this morning, Health Minister Tom Binet admitted that “there are other issues in radiology under scrutiny at the moment”.
He said that he expected to make this findings public at the end of the month.
It comes after it was revealed yesterday that the Hospital had to recall 20 women for breast cancer screening and review more than 2,700 scans over fears that a radiologist misdiagnosed patients. The radiologist has not been named by Health.
The department also had to apologise to a further 14 women whose breast cancer diagnosis could have been detected earlier. As a result, some women’s cancer treatment was delayed by as much as a year.
Pictured: The Hospital had to recall 20 women for breast cancer screening and review more than 2,700 scans over fears that a radiologist misdiagnosed patients.
A review of radiology services was conducted by Royal College Radiologists in January, which revealed infighting between staff in the radiology department, and a complaint by a member of Hospital staff about a radiologist who wrongly interpreted the results of breast cancer scans.
A separate review of breast radiology services was conducted by British Society Breast Radiologists in March.
Questioned on the findings at the start of this morning's States Assembly sitting, the Health Minister defended the fact that the findings had only just been made public – despite Health having the report since January 2024.
“I deemed it in the best interest of patients," he said. "In Health, I’m afraid the patients come first."
Pictured: Health Minister Tom Binet today admitted that “there are other issues in radiology under scrutiny at the moment”.
Deputy Binet also praised Deputy Medical Director Simon West for his handling of the situation, adding that he had been “extremely impressed with the speed and efficiency of work” so far.
The Health Minister said that a “well-considered” range of recommendations had been implement and were in the process of being implemented – some of which will “require further investment and support over a period of time”.
Whilst Deputy Binet could not provide specific details of the recommendations, he reassured the Assembly that "nobody else is at risk".
It comes hot off the heels another exceptionally damning Royal College review of the rheumatology service, which, like the radiology review, was prompted by a whistleblower.
It found that hundreds of patients were given strong drugs when they needn't have been, which may have caused harm.
The deaths of 182 patients were reviewed and it was "likely" some died due to the treatment they received, Scrutiny politicians were told last month. It emerged today that the Viscount has been notified of five deaths in particular which are believed to require further investigation.
Dealing with the saga has already cost the Government more than £2m, while a compensation scheme for those affected – many of whom are working on a joint claim with the help of a local law firm – is still yet to be worked out.
But Radiology and Rheumatology are not the only areas being probed – the Royal College has also been invited to closely examine at least three other areas of Health.
A review of Orthopaedic Surgery and Theatres was due to be conducted in April, and a review of Neurology by the Royal College of Physicians has also been commissioned.
The independent board responsible for overseeing Health's operations also requested a review of General Surgical Acute on-call services back in September. That review was due to take place in April.
Terms of reference set in December stated that the review aimed to ensure Jersey was following best practice, and that it wasn't in specific response to any patient safety concerns.
The terms said the process would involve selecting 20 general emergency surgical cases "at random", and that the "quality of staffing and team working within the department" would be assessed to see "whether this supports the delivery of high-quality and safe care".
Reviewers were specifically asked to look at morbidity and mortality meetings, as well as incident reporting, as well as answering the questions, "should we be looking at an emergency surgery model with less elective specialist work?" and, "how best to balance out emergency and elective activity?"
Whilst the terms of reference for Royal College of Surgeons’ review of general surgical acute on call services were made available online by the Health Advisory Board, the terms of reference for the other Health-commissioned reviews have not been made public.
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