The NHS is widely known to be struggling to keep up with the increased demands that it is facing, further to the growing population and following the Covid 19 pandemic. These various demands have caused significant strain on reporting times of diagnostic imaging such as MRI scans or ultrasounds. This has resulted in a failure by many Trusts to achieve the required ‘2 week’ turnaround time from scan to the reporting of the results, as set out in the NICE Guidelines.

We are currently acting for a client whose husband sadly passed away as a result of a delay of over 4 months in reporting a Cardiac MRI scan. His MRI scan, which took place in December 2024, was very abnormal and indicated the need for urgent surgical intervention. However, due to the delays, the scan was not reviewed until late April 2025 and although a letter was sent detailing the results and requesting that an urgent appointment be arranged, this letter failed to reach our client’s husband before he passed away due to heart attack in May 2025. Had it not been for the delays, he would have undergone the necessary intervention and he would have avoided the heart attack and lived for many more years.

Our client’s husband received care from the United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust and placed his trust and faith in the staff’s experience and the Trust’s ability to provide him with the treatment and support he needed. Sadly, this was not the case, and in a recent inquest, the coroner ruled that there were ‘missed opportunities’ of the Trust in managing the delays that they were experiencing at the time of the treatment.

The Trust have confirmed that they have now implemented measures to prevent such an extensive delay from occurring again in the future; including hiring additional staff and amending and developing their methods of monitoring diagnostic imaging that is awaiting clinical review to prevent any delays.

Whilst any change is welcomed, this does not detract from how our client’s husband was failed by the Trust and how the loss has devastated his family, leaving them without a much adored husband, father and grandfather. It also does not alter the fact that our client’s husband was not an isolated case and that there will be countless other patients who have suffered similar delays and may have suffered harm as a result of the same.

It is further apparent that the United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust is not the only NHS Trust that is struggling to keep on top of their reporting requirements. NHS England reports that 13,000 people under NHS treatment have been waiting 13 plus weeks for MRI results in the UK, and over 122,000 people are waiting over 13 weeks for diagnostic results generally.

If you or a loved one have experienced similar delays to our client’s husband and have suffered injury and loss due to such delays, please contact our experienced team today to discuss how we can help.