Question....gp's And Ct Scans

[dunnitall]

Is this the way it works? GP told OH that he couldn't refer for a CT scan as GP's aren't allowed. Said if sent to consultant he would do blood tests so waste of time, GP would do them first then see how it goes... All I'm asking is can a GP request a CT scan without referring a patient to a consultant? Thanks in advance for your advice.

[sunny-dave]

I've never been aware of any prohibition on GPs referring - I've been referred directly by a GP for CT and MRI scans - it may work differently in different areas of the country though.

There may be issues of cost (ie 'who pays' - the GP may not like the cost being pushed onto his budget) - or there may be capacity issues at your local hospital and thus an agreement to restrict referrals to consultants.

Push a bit harder for answers once the bloods are done.

[naomi24]

I've only ever been referred by the GP to a consultant who has then decided if scans are necessary.

[Togo]

In my experience no. I go for my annual cat scan tomorrow, the result of this will be sent directly to a consultant who will advise my GP of his prognosis. I have had about ten of them, and am on edge tonight just at the prospect.

[jakep]

A good friend has been referred direct from GP to have MRI scans, twice.

[Togo]

MRI scan is not the same as CT scan.

[pixie374]

Hope it goes well, Togo xx

[sunny-dave]

Same unit in most places though, Togo - all done by radiographers and interpreted by radiologists. The report should then be intelligible to any medical practitioner and (hopefully) the patient ...

[Sqad]

\\\\All I'm asking is can a GP request a CT scan without referring a patient to a consultant?\\\

I hope not.
It is often difficult for a GP to decide which is the better investigation MRI or C-T scan and the wrong investigation may be performed with waste of time and money.
When the result of the investigation is available in almost all cases, the patient THEN has to be referred to the appropriate Consultant, thus wasting time.
I would imagine that very few if any NHS units could cope with the volume if open house id given to the GP.

[woofgang]

The way that the NHS works is that the GP surgery will have a budget which they can spend in many ways. Different areas of the country will have different agreements on who can order what and how it is paid for...so it maybe that in some places the budget for, and control of, CT and MRI sits entirely within the consultant led services and in others it doesn’t. Its often (usually) better value to do a bulk deal where the consultant led services manage the scanning for a bulk fee rather than the GP paying per scan. I cannot imagine a hospital in the UK who would allow GP’s to order all the scans they wanted for a one off bulk payment. So the answer IMO is yes they could if the proper arrangement was in place; but no its not likely.

[dunnitall]

Thanks all for your answers. Our GP seems to have cut down on a lot of things, like dressings for use by nurses and staff on reception. Also medication for some it looks like even when needed (because it's too expensive!). I have experience of this so that's why I wondered if he is trying to avoid sending people for scans especially if they are elderly....

Togo I hope your scan goes okay with good results, best of luck.

[Togo]

Thank you Pixie and Dunnitall. I did not say ta to Pixie last night because I did want want to highjack your thread Dunnit.