Amman, Jan 24 (Petra) – Health Minister Ibrahim Bdour said on Saturday the ministry will reduce screening mammogram wait time to three weeks, part of a comprehensive operational plan aimed at expediting radiological screenings and improving the quality of service to women.
The plan, Bdour said, was devised to respond to a significant backlog of appointments, with waiting times of 12 months or more in some cases, placing considerable operational pressure on major hospitals that led to delays for some patients receiving breast screening.
The ministry, he said, carried out a study, which revealed that the main Al-Bashir Government Hospital alone handles about 180 mammograms per month, with a total of nearly 2,500 cases on the waiting list. A large portion of this backlog is due to routine screenings that could have been performed at other facilities equipped with mammography machines, he added.
The plan involves distributing services across three main locations: Al-Bashir Hospital for diagnostic and follow-up cases and Jamil Al-Tutunji Hospital and the Amman Comprehensive Health Center for routine check-ups, he said, adding that peripheral hospitals do not experience significant delays in appointments.
The minister said the appointment scheduling, referral, and case classification process has been streamlined, with daily referrals now being made to Jamil Al-Tutunji Hospital and the Amman Comprehensive Health Center, and the National Unified Image Reading Center being utilized for image interpretation and the provision of radiology specialists when needed.
He said women with backdated appointments will be contacted to reschedule them.
The minister said priority at Al-Bashir Hospital will be to diagnostic cases and those with high clinical suspicion, stressing that routine check-ups will be conducted at designated health centers for initial screening.
He stressed that the plan will contribute to completing mammograms in a shorter period, effectively reducing the backlog and expediting the diagnosis of cases requiring biopsies.
The issue will be practically resolved with the regularity of future appointments and guaranteeing the service's sustainability with fairness and efficiency, he assured.
//Petra//SS
