Breast screening: Woman’s anger over six-week wait for results

Dr Nick Lyons, executive medical director at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “There is a national shortage of  both breast screening radiologists and symptomatic radiologists, which has made recruitment very challenging for NHS organisations across the UK.

“At present we have only one screening radiologist doing sessions within the health board, and they are employed by Breast Test Wales.

“It is important to note that symptomatic patients, including those whose clinical need is considered urgent, are unaffected by this issue, as their MRI scans are reported upon by health board employed consultant radiologists.

“Our radiology services receive 11,000 imaging referrals each week and we regularly meet the national target times for providing and reporting examinations, with performance around this monitored closely.

“Our radiology teams share the reported results with the referring clinician, who will communicate these to the patient. Some patients can wait longer than we would like to receive their results, and we are working to improve this.”