A review into radiology services has revealed an IT failure caused a backlog of 8,500 examinations waiting to be reported to GPs in east Kent.

The probe, which was carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), uncovered a series of concerns at three NHS trusts, including the East Kent Hospitals Trust, which it said had a shortage of radiologists.

As well as the IT failure, which resulted in the backlog in August 2016, the review revealed the trust had missed targets for how quickly examinations should be reported back to doctors in almost 8,300 cases.

The watchdog also raised concerns that the radiology department was not referring “most” plain film and emergency chest and abdomen x-rays to clinicians.

The east Kent trust runs the Kent & Canterbury, William Harvey, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Buckland and Royal Victoria hospitals.

The report, which was released earlier this month, also stated an unnamed site had found it particularly difficult to recruit radiologists.

But the trust, according to a spokesman, has appointed seven more and “increased the amount of radiographer reporting” since the review was carried out in October 2017.

Rosie Duffield, the MP for Canterbury, criticised the trust in April after it emerged 5,000 x-rays, some dating back more than a decade, may not have been checked. But she is now “reassured” by the steps it has taken to improve its service.

“Clearly there were some big technical issues last year and this was exacerbated by staffing shortages,” she said.

“I am pleased to hear that the East Kent Universities Foundation NHS Trust has managed to deal with the huge backlog of cases in radiology. I have been reassured that hardware systems have been updated and checked.

“I am also told that since the backlog was initially reported, seven further radiologists have been appointed. This means that such worrying performance in the radiology department shouldn’t be repeated again.”

As of April 16, there were 256 CT and MRI examinations waiting longer than 14 days for a report.

The trust spokesman also said the backlog of about 8,500 reports from August 2016 had been “fully recovered” and that “further hardware” has been installed as a precaution.

He added: “East Kent Hospitals is one of the largest trusts in the UK. We carry out a very high number of radiological imaging; in 2017-18 this was more than 688,400.

“This is partly down to GPs having direct access to request scans, which is not common practice across the UK, and a successful breast screening service.

“The average number of days for scans to be reported last month (June) was 5.44 days for MRI and 5.63 days for CT. We report our performance to the CQC monthly. All MRI and CT scans are reported and we monitor how long it takes to report each exam.”

Ms Duffield also criticised wheelchair provision in east Kent hospitals, citing KCC figures which show 334 patients have had to wait more than a year for wheelchairs.

In addition, more than half of patients on wheelchair or assessment waiting lists have waited more than 18 weeks.

The Canterbury MP said: “Significant work must be done to address these huge issues with wheelchair provision.

“I have had numerous constituents contact me in recent months, who have been waiting for suitable wheelchairs for themselves or their children for far too long.

“I am in contact with Millbrook Healthcare, the providers of the wheelchairs, and will be watching their performance very closely.”

NHS Thanet Clinical Commissioning Group, which commissions the wheelchair service, and Millbrook Healthcare released a joint statement, saying: “We acknowledge that some people have been waiting too long for their assessments, repairs, or new wheelchairs, cushions and other equipment, and we are very sorry about this.

“It has been agreed that additional funds are required to clear the backlog of those waiting. NHS Thanet CCG is committed to working with the CCGs across Kent and Medway to gain approval to release the necessary funds to do this.

“The funding will be linked to a plan with clear timelines for equipment and repairs for the those who have been waiting the longest.”