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4 February 2025

Reduction in waiting times

Patients who need bone density scans are now waiting less than three weeks for their appointment thanks to the hard work of a dedicated team at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital.

Bone Density Scan Team

Bone Density Scan Team

The wait for a diagnostic scan has reduced from more than 13 weeks in August 2023 to no more than three weeks.

A bone density scan uses low dose X-rays to see how dense (or strong) a patient’s bones are. This is used to diagnose or assess the risk of osteoporosis, a health condition that weakens bones and makes them more likely to break.

Josh Bradley, Chief Clinical Technologist for Bone Densitometry, said the Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering (MPCE) department has helped transform the service at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT).

He said: “I wanted to celebrate the success of the team. In August 2023 , 58.77 per cent of patients referred for bone density scan (DEXA scan) waited more than six weeks for a scan. Currently, all patients are offered an appointment in under six weeks and the current wait times are two to three weeks.

“We have also maintained under three week reporting times throughout this period to ensure patients are not only scanned in a timely manner, but results and management recommendations are sent out in a timely manner too.”

Josh said the improvement had come about following a restructure of the department – allowing for the recruitment of two new scan technicians and increasing scanning capacity.

In addition, multiple digital innovations have been introduced which has improved efficiencies and reduced the team’s carbon footprint through removal of printing documents.

He said: “In addition to the improvements in our waiting list, following an audit by the British Standards Institute we have also recently achieved ISO 9001:2015 certification, which is a globally recognised standard for quality management.

“This demonstrates our commitment to consistently providing a high level of patient care.”

ENDS