KEY POINTS:
A mother whose teenage son was denied access to an out- of-hours MRI scan at Rotorua Hospital claims the "almighty dollar" is being put ahead of patients' needs.
Rotorua's MRI scanner doesn't operate at weekends because of the cost of employing enough specialised staff to work out-of-hours.
The Lakes District Health Board says patients aren't at risk because it's "extremely rare" for an MRI scan to be so urgent that it can't wait until Monday following a weekend.
But that's surprised Rotorua woman Dianne Knights who says patients deserve immediate treatment.
Her son, 15-year-old Glenn Stretch, landed on his head in a BMX accident on September 15.
He was treated at Lakes Prime Care then transferred to Rotorua Hospital's emergency department.
He had x-rays and was diagnosed with concussion and a dislocated shoulder. Hospital staff told Ms Knights he should have an MRI scan to rule out more serious head injury.
But because it was a Saturday he couldn't have the scan at Rotorua Hospital.
Staff rang Midland MRI, a private radiology provider in Hamilton, which performs MRI scans out-of-hours for Lakes.
However, Midland staff refused the request, arguing Rotorua Hospital should use its own facilities.
Glenn was admitted to hospital and had further x-rays on Sunday.
His condition was monitored by staff who were satisfied on Monday he was making good progress and no longer needed a scan.
He was discharged from hospital after a week.
Ms Knights said she had no problem with the quality of nursing or specialist care at Lakes. However, she was concerned radiologists could not be called in out-of-hours.
"Tradespeople operate an on-call service so why can't the hospital? They obviously need more funding so they can use the facility at the weekends. We've finally got this facility but now professionals can't use it to the best of their ability."
A generous donation of $1 million and loan by the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust enabled Lakes District Health Board to install an MRI at Rotorua Hospital in 2005.
Previously, patients travelled to Hamilton or Tauranga for scans.
The board's communications officer, Sue Wilkie, said Lakes received two or three requests for out-of-hours MRI scans a year.
As a result, operating an out-of-hours MRI service would not be an effective use of either staff time or dollars.
It was extremely rare for MRI scans to be so urgent that they couldn't wait until the next morning or the Monday following a weekend, she said.
She would not discuss details of Mr Stretch's case but said it was possible his symptoms might have improved so rapidly that his scan was no longer necessary."
It was possible Hamilton staff contacted on September 15 were unfamiliar with the arrangement between Lakes and Midland MRI for urgent MRI cases, she said.
Midland MRI manager Stephen Butler wouldn't comment on Mr Stretch's case. However, he said access to the scanner was based on clinical urgency and whether an MRI was appropriate.
"We encourage acute radiology services to be provided at the closest service provider wherever possible, with consideration to local clinical and resource constraints."
- NZH
