To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported review of more than 1,000 CT scans, in light of concerns regarding the quality of assessments made by a consultant radiologist. (S6T-02241)

NHS Golden Jubilee, which hosts the Scottish national radiology reporting service, has confirmed that discrepancies were identified in some reports by an individual consultant radiologist and that immediate action was taken by it to comprehensively review all relevant CT examinations. The findings were shared with relevant health boards, which are currently investigating the clinical impact of the discrepancies under the appropriate clinical governance and duty of candour requirements. I understand that it is too soon to determine the impact on individual patients.

Individual staffing matters are entirely for the health board to resolve. However, NHS Golden Jubilee has confirmed that the individual is no longer working for the SNRRS.

I welcome the immediate action that was taken. However, I seek further clarity on how the discrepancies were allowed to happen, which health boards have been affected and when the affected patients can expect to be notified.

The audit ensures that we are able to pick up on the issues in a relatively timeous way. NHS boards have a duty of candour and must make sure that they report any issues that may impact on patients, and my understanding is that that is under way. As I said in my opening answer, it is too early to say what the impact will be, and it is also too early to say what the geographical spread will be, as Carol Mochan requests. However, as more information comes to light, I will seek to make sure that Ms Mochan and others are kept up to date.

That is very helpful. I am sure that the cabinet secretary recognises that such errors impact on public trust and confidence in the Scottish national radiology reporting service, which is relatively new, having launched in 2020, and the situation has arisen during a time when we seem to have regular scandals in the NHS. How will the Government ensure that lessons are learned and that similar errors do not occur in the future?

There are two things to note. First, discrepancies are not necessarily errors but are disagreements on the appropriate reporting between two or more radiologists. They are estimated to occur in between 3 and 30 per cent of all radiological examinations. That information comes from the Royal College of Radiologists. There will be some errors, and in a subset of those cases there may be an impact on patients, which will lead to the duty of candour obligations that I set out earlier.

My second point is about reassurance. From the start of a pilot in July 2020, through the transition to business as usual in November 2021 and until March 2023, more than 240,000 examinations were reported through the SNRRS bank, which equates to more than 42,000 hours of reporting. We are therefore discussing a small number of examinations compared with the overall system. On lessons learned and how we are giving patients confidence, I hope that the duty of candour process and the auditing process that are under way will give Ms Mochan and patients the reassurance that she asked for.

I remind members that I am employed as a bank nurse by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

I note that around 10 patients have been identified as being potentially impacted by the work of the radiologist. This will undoubtedly be a troubling and worrying time for those individuals and their loved ones. Can the cabinet secretary assure those who have been affected that they will be contacted timeously by NHS boards and supported during this potentially distressing time?

I can. I share Ms Haughey’s concern about the feelings of distress that the individuals whom she referenced must be feeling. I express my sincere sympathies to the patients who have been affected at this difficult time.

I confirm that the relevant health boards have initiated duty of candour requirements. The Scottish Government is clear that, when harm occurs or has potential to occur, the focus must be on personal contact with those who have been affected, and that openness and transparency are fundamental to promoting a culture of learning and continuous improvement in health and social care settings and to ensuring that we have that feeling of trust in our institutions.

The duty of candour procedure reflects the Scottish Government’s commitment to place people at the heart of health and social care services in Scotland. I hope that that answers Clare Haughey’s question.

The cabinet secretary will be aware of the advancement of artificial intelligence in reading scans. It has become extremely accurate and quick at highlighting anomalies to healthcare professionals. What is the cabinet secretary doing to ensure that AI of that kind is adopted into the health service as quickly as possible?

As were the earlier points, Brian Whittle’s point is fair, and we are exploring it. He will understand that there are sensitivities in ensuring that we operate artificial intelligence appropriately. However, we have very good intelligence on and experience of artificial intelligence being used to read scans in certain disciplines, not only in Scotland, but across the UK. Cancer is a good example of where AI can identify issues quickly. We are looking to invest in such innovation and technology, and my hope is that the investments that we have proposed through the budget for next year will help us to proceed further with that.