Not enough time for radiology review: doctors

The Newfoundland and Labrador government is asking too much of radiologists who have agreed to review thousands of diagnostic records commissioned by a now-suspended physician, a doctors' group says.

Provincial Health Minister Ross Wiseman last week ordered the Eastern Health regional authority to finish a review of thousands ofreports done by a radiologist who had been suspended May 10 from the Burin Peninsula Health Care Centre.

Eastern Health said its own review would take about five weeks to complete the review of the extra records, which include CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds from about 3,500 patients. Wiseman said patients should not have to wait that long.

But Joseph Tumilty, president-elect of the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association, said that within three days of the review starting, radiologists have found the burden too great.

"We want an accurate result. Whether it takes a little bit longer is irrelevant," Tumilty told CBC News on Tuesday.

Radiologists within Eastern Health who agreed to review the records contacted the NLMA to speak out on their behalf, he said.

"They're very concerned, and that's why we're trying to make a difference in terms of the timeline," Tumilty said.

In the house of assembly on Tuesday, Wiseman said the estimate of the number of records under review has been revised to between 5,100 and 5,200, down from an initial figure of 6,000.

However,when New Democrat Leader Lorraine Michael asked Wiseman whether he agreed with the medical association's assertionthat radiologists do not have enough time to complete the work, Wiseman indicated he still is comfortable with the deadline.

"Eastern Health [is] proceeding along the lines, the timelines that we mapped out," said Wiseman.

"We want to make sure that [the reviews] are done with quality in mind, they're done in a timely fashion, and they're done so that the end result here will be that the individual patients and the individual physicians will have accurate results," said Wiseman, who was briefed Tuesday by Eastern Health officials.

Some 22 radiologists are participating in the review, Wiseman said, with some of them working on itfull time.

Radiologist hired last November

Eastern Health acknowledged the suspension of the physician a week ago. It hasnot identified the Burin Peninsula radiologist, who was recruited internationally and who began work in November 2006.

The authority has been under fire for withholding information about flawed hormone receptor tests, involving hundreds of breast cancer patients.

Tumilty said he did not know how much more time radiologists within Eastern Health will need to complete their review.

Opposition critics have expressed concern that the special review may affect diagnostic services for other patients.