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Tina, who contacted us via the orange Alert Us button, would like a quick MRI scan to clarify the cause of her foot pain. Problem: he is offered an appointment in several months. She does not understand these long delays for medical care. Are we running out of devices? Are solutions considered?
“When we suffer, we hope to be taken care of more quickly”, says Tina. Desperate, this resident of Waterloo contacted us via the orange Alert us button to denounce too long delays before being able to undergo an MRI. For 7 years, Tina has suffered from her foot. Despite orthopedic insoles and consultations with the physiotherapist, the pain gradually intensified.
Since six months, “impossible to put one foot on the ground”. “It’s as if there was a pebble in your shoe that hurts a lot,” she describes. The medical examinations carried out made it possible to detect a pathology, Tina benefits from a treatment. But the pain is still there. According to Tina, the solution that is now essential is MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). However, she fails to get an appointment quickly. “It’s the cross and the banner. I phoned almost all the hospitals in Brussels and in Namur. The first appointments are in several months”she assures.
It’s like a kind of injustice.
Tina feels helpless. “I’m starting to get fed up, it’s very disabling. It’s like a kind of injustice. I’m suffering and I would like someone to help me. I would like this exam to be done and the “we see what is happening once and for all. We do not put ourselves in the shoes of patients who are suffering and who want it to stop”, she adds.
An MRI is an examination technique that consists of creating precise images of a part of the body, using waves and a magnetic field. The images are reconstructed by a computer and interpreted by a radiologist. Not all hospitals have this large and complex machine to use.
Dr. Sebastian Spencer is Deputy Medical Director at Cliniques de l’Europe. Here, the deadlines range from 15 days to 3 months depending on the anatomical areas. “If we talk about knee MRI, we have short delays. For the brain, the delays are a little longer”, enlightens the specialist. Because for a patient to be able to undergo an MRI, the machine must be configured. The medical teams take care of this configuration by gathering the appointments according to the zones. “When we plan the activity of an MRI, we plan it by anatomical zone”, justifies Dr. Sebastian Spencer.
What needs to be done quickly is done quickly.
The director explains to us that when we are faced with medical emergencies, it is possible to schedule an appointment quickly. The time slot of the establishment allows the addition of such emergencies. For this, it is sufficient for the prescribing physician to contact the hospital and report the urgency of his patient. “What needs to be done quickly is done quickly”, explique Dr Sebastian Spencer.
For cases that are not given priority treatment like Tina, you have to wait two months for a foot resonance at Cliniques Saint-Luc. “Of course, we would like the 3 month deadlines to be shorter. And for that, we open time slots on weekends”emphasizes the practitioner.
In Belgium, there are 139 devices (including two that are not yet operational in Flanders). This is twice less compared to the European average. However, Belgium performs twice as many MRIs compared to the European average.
“So in the end, it’s glass half empty, half full. We have fewer devices, but we use them more efficiently. So the number of exams is not significantly reduced,” analyzes Dr Frédéric Alexis, radiologist at Jolimont Hospital and member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Society of Radiology.
Should we increase the number of equipment used to perform MRIs to reduce patient delays? A working group, of which Dr. Frédéric Alexis is a member, looked into the matter. A report on the number of devices needed has just been sent to the Minister’s office. The federal government is responsible for the number of devices put on the market and the Regions choose the hospitals that will receive approval to be able to hold these devices.
+ 200,000 exams within 2 to 3 years
According to this radiologist, there has been a 7% increase in the number of MRIs for nearly 10 years. “This is explained by the increasing life expectancy, the cancer that must be monitored and treated. So the examinations will increase. Technological developments allow more exploration. Today, we are around “1,100,000 examinations. We expect that we will be around 1,300,000 within 2 to 3 years. It will therefore be necessary to adapt the capacity of the equipment to meet this demand”, explains Dr Frédéric Alexis.
Adapting the machine park could also go through the analysis of medical prescriptions. Because any examination goes through a doctor’s prescription beforehand. “It would be interesting to be able to benefit from a prescription assistance system that would make it possible to monitor, to study the way in which one prescribes in order to be able to make adjustments and possibly to allow the number of devices to be predicted for the future”explains the radiologist.
One of the other major challenges that the health system will soon be facing also lies in the recruitment and training of qualified personnel. Because to increase the number of equipment, it would be necessary to count on “twice as many personnel”. “However, the people who carry out examinations, who are medical imaging technologists, constitute a profession in short supply. So if tomorrow we had twice as many devices, it is very likely that we would have trouble using them correctly,” analyzes the radiologist.
Finally, Tina was able to obtain an appointment following withdrawal. She now hopes that the MRI will be able to help her in the diagnosis of her possible pathology.
Tina, who contacted us via the orange Alert Us button, would like a quick MRI scan to clarify the cause of her foot pain. Problem: he is offered an appointment in several months. She does not understand these long delays for medical care. Are we running out of devices? Are solutions considered?
“When we suffer, we hope to be taken care of more quickly”, says Tina. Desperate, this resident of Waterloo contacted us via the orange Alert us button to denounce too long delays before being able to undergo an MRI. For 7 years, Tina has suffered from her foot. Despite orthopedic insoles and consultations with the physiotherapist, the pain gradually intensified.
Since six months, “impossible to put one foot on the ground”. “It’s as if there was a pebble in your shoe that hurts a lot,” she describes. The medical examinations carried out made it possible to detect a pathology, Tina benefits from a treatment. But the pain is still there. According to Tina, the solution that is now essential is MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). However, she fails to get an appointment quickly. “It’s the cross and the banner. I phoned almost all the hospitals in Brussels and in Namur. The first appointments are in several months”she assures.
It’s like a kind of injustice.
Tina feels helpless. “I’m starting to get fed up, it’s very disabling. It’s like a kind of injustice. I’m suffering and I would like someone to help me. I would like this exam to be done and the “we see what is happening once and for all. We do not put ourselves in the shoes of patients who are suffering and who want it to stop”, she adds.
An MRI is an examination technique that consists of creating precise images of a part of the body, using waves and a magnetic field. The images are reconstructed by a computer and interpreted by a radiologist. Not all hospitals have this large and complex machine to use.
Dr. Sebastian Spencer is Deputy Medical Director at Cliniques de l’Europe. Here, the deadlines range from 15 days to 3 months depending on the anatomical areas. “If we talk about knee MRI, we have short delays. For the brain, the delays are a little longer”, enlightens the specialist. Because for a patient to be able to undergo an MRI, the machine must be configured. The medical teams take care of this configuration by gathering the appointments according to the zones. “When we plan the activity of an MRI, we plan it by anatomical zone”, justifies Dr. Sebastian Spencer.
What needs to be done quickly is done quickly.
The director explains to us that when we are faced with medical emergencies, it is possible to schedule an appointment quickly. The time slot of the establishment allows the addition of such emergencies. For this, it is sufficient for the prescribing physician to contact the hospital and report the urgency of his patient. “What needs to be done quickly is done quickly”, explique Dr Sebastian Spencer.
For cases that are not given priority treatment like Tina, you have to wait two months for a foot resonance at Cliniques Saint-Luc. “Of course, we would like the 3 month deadlines to be shorter. And for that, we open time slots on weekends”emphasizes the practitioner.
In Belgium, there are 139 devices (including two that are not yet operational in Flanders). This is twice less compared to the European average. However, Belgium performs twice as many MRIs compared to the European average.
“So in the end, it’s glass half empty, half full. We have fewer devices, but we use them more efficiently. So the number of exams is not significantly reduced,” analyzes Dr Frédéric Alexis, radiologist at Jolimont Hospital and member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Society of Radiology.
Should we increase the number of equipment used to perform MRIs to reduce patient delays? A working group, of which Dr. Frédéric Alexis is a member, looked into the matter. A report on the number of devices needed has just been sent to the Minister’s office. The federal government is responsible for the number of devices put on the market and the Regions choose the hospitals that will receive approval to be able to hold these devices.
+ 200,000 exams within 2 to 3 years
According to this radiologist, there has been a 7% increase in the number of MRIs for nearly 10 years. “This is explained by the increasing life expectancy, the cancer that must be monitored and treated. So the examinations will increase. Technological developments allow more exploration. Today, we are around “1,100,000 examinations. We expect that we will be around 1,300,000 within 2 to 3 years. It will therefore be necessary to adapt the capacity of the equipment to meet this demand”, explains Dr Frédéric Alexis.
Adapting the machine park could also go through the analysis of medical prescriptions. Because any examination goes through a doctor’s prescription beforehand. “It would be interesting to be able to benefit from a prescription assistance system that would make it possible to monitor, to study the way in which one prescribes in order to be able to make adjustments and possibly to allow the number of devices to be predicted for the future”explains the radiologist.
One of the other major challenges that the health system will soon be facing also lies in the recruitment and training of qualified personnel. Because to increase the number of equipment, it would be necessary to count on “twice as many personnel”. “However, the people who carry out examinations, who are medical imaging technologists, constitute a profession in short supply. So if tomorrow we had twice as many devices, it is very likely that we would have trouble using them correctly,” analyzes the radiologist.
Finally, Tina was able to obtain an appointment following withdrawal. She now hopes that the MRI will be able to help her in the diagnosis of her possible pathology.
Write an outro for the article
Tina, who contacted us via the orange Alert Us button, would like a quick MRI scan to clarify the cause of her foot pain. Problem: he is offered an appointment in several months. She does not understand these long delays for medical care. Are we running out of devices? Are solutions considered?
“When we suffer, we hope to be taken care of more quickly”, says Tina. Desperate, this resident of Waterloo contacted us via the orange Alert us button to denounce too long delays before being able to undergo an MRI. For 7 years, Tina has suffered from her foot. Despite orthopedic insoles and consultations with the physiotherapist, the pain gradually intensified.
Since six months, “impossible to put one foot on the ground”. “It’s as if there was a pebble in your shoe that hurts a lot,” she describes. The medical examinations carried out made it possible to detect a pathology, Tina benefits from a treatment. But the pain is still there. According to Tina, the solution that is now essential is MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). However, she fails to get an appointment quickly. “It’s the cross and the banner. I phoned almost all the hospitals in Brussels and in Namur. The first appointments are in several months”she assures.
It’s like a kind of injustice.
Tina feels helpless. “I’m starting to get fed up, it’s very disabling. It’s like a kind of injustice. I’m suffering and I would like someone to help me. I would like this exam to be done and the “we see what is happening once and for all. We do not put ourselves in the shoes of patients who are suffering and who want it to stop”, she adds.
An MRI is an examination technique that consists of creating precise images of a part of the body, using waves and a magnetic field. The images are reconstructed by a computer and interpreted by a radiologist. Not all hospitals have this large and complex machine to use.
Dr. Sebastian Spencer is Deputy Medical Director at Cliniques de l’Europe. Here, the deadlines range from 15 days to 3 months depending on the anatomical areas. “If we talk about knee MRI, we have short delays. For the brain, the delays are a little longer”, enlightens the specialist. Because for a patient to be able to undergo an MRI, the machine must be configured. The medical teams take care of this configuration by gathering the appointments according to the zones. “When we plan the activity of an MRI, we plan it by anatomical zone”, justifies Dr. Sebastian Spencer.
What needs to be done quickly is done quickly.
The director explains to us that when we are faced with medical emergencies, it is possible to schedule an appointment quickly. The time slot of the establishment allows the addition of such emergencies. For this, it is sufficient for the prescribing physician to contact the hospital and report the urgency of his patient. “What needs to be done quickly is done quickly”, explique Dr Sebastian Spencer.
For cases that are not given priority treatment like Tina, you have to wait two months for a foot resonance at Cliniques Saint-Luc. “Of course, we would like the 3 month deadlines to be shorter. And for that, we open time slots on weekends”emphasizes the practitioner.
In Belgium, there are 139 devices (including two that are not yet operational in Flanders). This is twice less compared to the European average. However, Belgium performs twice as many MRIs compared to the European average.
“So in the end, it’s glass half empty, half full. We have fewer devices, but we use them more efficiently. So the number of exams is not significantly reduced,” analyzes Dr Frédéric Alexis, radiologist at Jolimont Hospital and member of the Board of Directors of the Belgian Society of Radiology.
Should we increase the number of equipment used to perform MRIs to reduce patient delays? A working group, of which Dr. Frédéric Alexis is a member, looked into the matter. A report on the number of devices needed has just been sent to the Minister’s office. The federal government is responsible for the number of devices put on the market and the Regions choose the hospitals that will receive approval to be able to hold these devices.
+ 200,000 exams within 2 to 3 years
According to this radiologist, there has been a 7% increase in the number of MRIs for nearly 10 years. “This is explained by the increasing life expectancy, the cancer that must be monitored and treated. So the examinations will increase. Technological developments allow more exploration. Today, we are around “1,100,000 examinations. We expect that we will be around 1,300,000 within 2 to 3 years. It will therefore be necessary to adapt the capacity of the equipment to meet this demand”, explains Dr Frédéric Alexis.
Adapting the machine park could also go through the analysis of medical prescriptions. Because any examination goes through a doctor’s prescription beforehand. “It would be interesting to be able to benefit from a prescription assistance system that would make it possible to monitor, to study the way in which one prescribes in order to be able to make adjustments and possibly to allow the number of devices to be predicted for the future”explains the radiologist.
One of the other major challenges that the health system will soon be facing also lies in the recruitment and training of qualified personnel. Because to increase the number of equipment, it would be necessary to count on “twice as many personnel”. “However, the people who carry out examinations, who are medical imaging technologists, constitute a profession in short supply. So if tomorrow we had twice as many devices, it is very likely that we would have trouble using them correctly,” analyzes the radiologist.
Finally, Tina was able to obtain an appointment following withdrawal. She now hopes that the MRI will be able to help her in the diagnosis of her possible pathology.