A review of diagnoses at a Scottish hospital, which was announced after concerns were raised about the work of a consultant radiologist, has been widened to cover hundreds more patients.
A review of diagnoses at a Scottish hospital, which was announced after concerns were raised about the work of a consultant radiologist, has been widened to cover hundreds more patients.
NHS Highland earlier said it was launching checks to ensure no patient had an undiagnosed illness which should have been identified at an earlier stage.
It follows the revelation in The Herald that questions had been raised about the interpretation of radiology examinations by locum Dr James Murray while he was working at Lorn and Islands Hospital in Oban.
The health board began reviewing 1700 X-rays last month and now the review has been extended to include around 400 patients who had an ultrasound at the hospital.
NHS Highland has asked the referring doctors to identify patients who would not benefit from having a scan repeated and have started sending letters to the remaining patients to invite them to have another scan.
Special clinics have been set up to ensure there is no impact on other patients.
NHS Highland's Medical Director Dr Ian Bashford is chair of the Critical Incident Review team.
He said yesterday: "We understand that some patients may be anxious and we want to reassure them that we are taking the concerns which have been raised seriously.
"We are taking action to ensure no patient has undiagnosed disease, including offering to repeat scans.
"We have provided additional appointments with the support of our staff and are working to review all of these patients as quickly as possible.
"Obviously many patients' conditions will have changed since their original scan and they may have been re-scanned or treated for the original condition.
"Patients may feel it unnecessary but we would urge them to take this opportunity if they are in any doubt whatsoever."
Dr Murray, who lives in East Lothian, worked for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde for six months in 2005-06 and a review of his work was undertaken then after points were raised about his style of his reporting, rather than his clinical interpretation of images. No discrepancies were found.
In the Highlands a question was first lodged about Dr Murray's reading of an image in December and a GP since flagged-up more than 10 further cases for scrutiny.
The situation has raised questions about the future of radiology at Lorn and Islands Hospital, a small rural general which fought off proposals to withdraw consultant cover four years ago.
The Scottish review announced last month covered approximately 1700 X-rays and some barium enemas where the images were interpreted at Lorn and Islands Hospital between October 2007 and May 2008.
This included some patients who were seen at community hospitals in the Argyll and Bute region.
NHS Highland said yesterday that a consultant radiologist was making "swift progress" in reviewing these images.
Dr Murray had previously been named as the consultant at the centre of a problem in the Republic of Ireland which prompted thousands of chest X-rays to be re-examined. Letters were posted to 4500 patients as part of the review of chest X-rays and CT scans.
Dr Murray, who is thought to be 74, resigned from Lorn and Islands in May.
