The May 2023 figures are alarming. In some provinces, patients are waiting as long as 126 days for an MRI, 81 days for a CT scan and 152 days for a PET-CT in the normal course.
Queues for imaging tests still dramatically long
Published June 14, 2023 11:38
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Every year, more than 170,000 [1] cancers are diagnosed in Poland - with many patients at an advanced stage. The problem is inadequate prevention, but also queues for oncology clinics and diagnostic tests. And it is imaging tests that are so important in detecting cancer and evaluating the effectiveness of oncological treatment.
New results posted on the Alivia Onkoskaner portal (formerly Kolejkoscope) show that the waiting time for MRIs has increased the most. On normal, patients are already waiting 75 days, 13 days longer than last year. For "cito" 56 days - 12 days longer than in May 2022.[2]
Patients also have to be patient while waiting in line for a PET-CT scan. With a referral on a regular basis, it's an average of 42 days (6 more than a year ago), and 28 days on an urgent basis (4 more than in May 2022).
- The long queues for PET CT examinations may be due, on the one hand, to a significant increase in the number of examinations ordered and performed, and, on the other hand, to staffing problems and a lack of optimal use of the existing infrastructure. For example, in France in 2022 more than 5.5 times more examinations were performed on a statistical PET/CT machine than in Poland [3]," emphasizes Joanna Frątczak-Kazana, deputy director of the Alivia Oncofoundation.
The gap between the provinces
The Alivia Oncofoundation also compares the length of queues for imaging tests in different provinces. The results clearly show that the speed of the test is affected by where you live. In some provinces, patients wait up to four months longer for a test than in others.
- Comparing queues across provinces shows huge disparities, primarily in access to MRI scans. The situation is not much better for CT or PET-CT examinations. Differences between provinces are as much as 100 days or more. Let's remember that it's one thing to perform a test, but on top of that, after all, there's also the waiting time for a description and for a doctor's appointment to consult the result. While in one province a patient waits only a few days, in another this time extends up to several months! And, after all, cancer won't wait," says Aleksandra Ciompala, coordinator of Oncofoundation Alivia's support programs.
In the queue from 7 to 152 days
The longest wait for a CT scan in the normal mode is for patients in the Malopolska province - 81 days, and the shortest in the Podlaskie province - 10 days. In the urgent mode, the situation is similar. The longest waiting time is in Malopolska province - 47 days, and the shortest in Podlaskie province - 7 days.[4]
For an MRI in the normal mode in the Lubuskie province there is a wait of 126 days, and in the Mazowieckie province - 40 days. With a referral for "cito" the longest queue is in the Lubuskie province - 103 days, and the shortest in the Warmian-Masurian province - 29 days.[5]
The longest wait for PET-CT examination in normal and urgent mode is in the Mazowieckie province. Exactly 152 days in the normal mode and 72 days "for urgent". The shortest queue in the Opole province - in normal mode 10 days, and in normal and urgent mode - 8 days.[6]
The above figures refer to the waiting time for the study in May 2023.
Don't pay for the test if you pay the National Health Insurance premium
Such a long waiting time for the test makes many patients decide to do it privately. Unfortunately, the cost is from several hundred to even several thousand zlotys. Not all patients can afford such an expense and are then forced to wait even several months. The result can be a delay in the start of treatment and, consequently, a reduced chance of recovery.
Źróḍło: Onkofundacja Alivia.
[1] https://onkologia.org.pl/sites/default/files/publications/2022-05/Nowotwory_2019.pdf
[2] https://onkoskaner.pl/app/stats/
[3] Kunikowska, J., Królicki, L. & Czepczynski, R. Nuclear imaging and therapy in oncology in Poland in 2021-2022. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 50, 2236-2239 (2023).
[4] https://onkoskaner.pl/app/stats/?serviceId=218&interval=6&dateTo=2023-05-31&days=150&normal=1&urgent=2&waitingTime=&nfz=
[5] https://onkoskaner.pl/app/stats/?serviceId=217&interval=6&dateTo=2023-05-31&days=150&normal=1&urgent=2&waitingTime=&nfz=
[6] https://onkoskaner.pl/app/stats/?serviceId=219&interval=6&dateTo=2023-05-31&days=150&normal=1&urgent=2&waitingTime=&nfz=
