NHS chiefs are preparing to scrap out of hours x-ray services in Washington and Houghton.
Imaging provision for patients with suspected broken bones and other injuries had been kept at both primary care centres following an overhaul of urgent care on Wearside.
But, seven months after the changes were introduced, heath bosses say the numbers using the service are too low to justify keeping it going.
“We have provided radiography [at Houghton and Washington] but it is only being used one or two times a week,” said Dr Tracey Lucas, a GP and clinical lead at Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
“There is pressure on the availability of radiographers and we have decided we’re not going to retain x-ray capacity any longer.
“Someone sitting there for one or two x-rays a week is not a good use of their time.
“But we continue to see minor injury patients, there’s no reduction in the service which is there and people with the correct level of skills and expertise continue to staff it.”
Dr Lucas was speaking at Wednesday's meeting of Sunderland City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.
According to figures from the Sunderland Extended Access Service (SEAS) it saw ‘low levels of minor injury activity’ at its sites at Washington Primary Care Centre and Houghton Primary Care Centre.
It added between October (2019) and January (2020) there had been just three x-rays performed a week across both sites.
This equated to an 80 per cent underutilisation of ‘radiology capacity’ at Houghton and 89 per cent at Washington.
The findings were treated with scepticism by some members of the panel however, such as Houghton councillor Juliana Heron, who claimed the numbers were low due to ‘post code confusion’ at the NHS 111 service, which is supposed to direct patients to the primary care centres.
She added: “If you get the x-ray taken away from the Houghton area people will be waiting two hours for an x-ray.”
According to a report for councillors, SEAS will continue to treat ‘minor injury and illness patients’, but those needing x-rays will be sent to an urgent treatment centre, such as Pallion, emergency department or fracture clinic, ‘depending on the type of injury’.
