The embattled Canberra Hospital in Australia is facing more scrutiny for being forced to send all inpatient CT scans to external providers last week due to unplanned leaves, the Canberra Times reported.
From Aug. 20 to 24, all inpatient reports were processed outside of the hospital, meaning off-site doctors created reports without the benefit of meeting with patients or consulting with other radiologists, according to the Times.
“They’re talking over the phone and talking about an image rather than a patient,” said Stephen Crook, Medical Officers Federation secretary, in the report. "It's not good clinical practice for a tertiary hospital."
A spokeswoman for ACT Health, which operates Canberra, said the off-site approach is common at hospitals and improvements have been made in the department since it was revealed, in March, that the hospital’s radiology department was at risk of losing its teaching accreditation.
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Matt joined Chicago’s TriMed team in 2018 covering all areas of health imaging after two years reporting on the hospital field. He holds a bachelor’s in English from UIC, and enjoys a good cup of coffee and an interesting documentary.