Quality standard
Quality statement 4: Provisional radiology reports
Quality statement 4: Provisional radiology reports
Quality statement
People attending an emergency department with a head injury have a provisional written radiology report within 1 hour if a CT head or cervical spine scan is performed.
Rationale
Head injuries can be fatal or cause permanent disability if damage to the brain is not identified and treated quickly. Having the provisional results of a CT scan available within an hour will allow rapid treatment and improve outcomes for people with head injuries that have damaged the brain.
Quality measures
The following measures can be used to assess the quality of care or service provision specified in the statement. They are examples of how the statement can be measured, and can be adapted and used flexibly.
Structure
Evidence of local arrangements to ensure provisional written radiology reports are available within 1 hour of CT head and cervical spine scans.
Data source: No routinely collected national data for this measure has been identified. Data can be collected from information recorded locally by healthcare professionals and provider organisations, for example from service protocols.
Process
Proportion of emergency department attendances for head injury for which a provisional written radiology report is available within 1 hour of any CT head or cervical spine scan.
Numerator – the number in the denominator with a provisional written radiology report available within 1 hour.
Denominator – the number of emergency department attendances for head injury having a CT head or cervical spine scan.
Data source: Data can be collected from information recorded locally by healthcare professionals and provider organisations, for example from patient records.
What the quality statement means for different audiences
Service providers (emergency departments, hospitals, major trauma centres, trauma units and specialist neurological centres) ensure that provisional written radiology reports are available within 1 hour of CT head or cervical spine scans for head injury.
Healthcare professionals ensure that a provisional written radiology report is available within 1 hour of the CT head or cervical spine scans for head injury.
Commissioners ensure that service providers can deliver a provisional written radiology report within 1 hour of the scan. This may be achieved in a number of ways, including the use of 1‑hour targets in acute contracts or enhanced monitoring and audit procedures.
People with a head injury who have a CT scan have a written report of the scan results available within 1 hour.
Source guidance
Head injury: assessment and early management. NICE guideline NG232 (2023), recommendations 1.5.14 and 1.6.7