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Health NZ has discovered 180 patient radiology reports, some dating back to 2023, that weren’t sent back to the doctors who requested the scans.<\/p>\n
A memo seen by RNZ, sent to staff in Te Tai Tokerau\/Northland on 8 April, says the reports will now be sent, but their arrival had been delayed.<\/p>\n
“If you feel harm has resulted from the delay in sending the imaging report, please submit a referral,” the letter says.<\/p>\n
Health New Zealand Te Tai Tokerau group operations director Alex Pimm said in a statement it was caused by an IT error related to the system used to share radiology reports with requesters.<\/p>\n
“A senior radiologist has reviewed all affected reports, and any further action will be taken where appropriate,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Initial investigation has not identified any significant harm to patients, although we appreciate that any delay in providing diagnostic results can be anxious for patients and their wh\u0101nau.”<\/p>\n
Most unsent scans occurred in June 2025, but some dated back to 2023.<\/p>\n
The underlying problem had been resolved to prevent a recurrence, and the reports had been shared with GPs and the requesting clinician this week.<\/p>\n
“We apologise for this delay and for any impact this has had on patients and clinicians.”<\/p>\n
What are radiology reports, and why do they matter?<\/p>\n
Northland GP Dr Tim Malloy explained radiology reports were written summaries of things like CT scans, x-rays or MRIs, usually requested by a GP or specialist, to diagnose a particular issue for a patient.<\/p>\n
The requester would generally notice if they never received the report they requested, and patients would generally follow up if they didn’t hear back with their results.<\/p>\n
But copies of reports requested by specialists were often sent to a patient’s GP as an FYI. Malloy said in that case, the doctor who requested it would be the one to action it, but the GP who didn’t receive their copy wouldn’t know to check for it, or to chase it up.<\/p>\n
So the situation was “low risk, high significance”, he said – it wasn’t likely a missing report wouldn’t be followed up by the requesting doctor, but if it wasn’t, those results wouldn’t make it to the patient.<\/p>\n