• Darragh Garrahy, Simon Doran, Hazel O'Neill, Suzanne Dennan, and Peter Beddy.
• Department of Radiology, St James's Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, James's St, Dublin 8, Ireland.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2024 Aug 1; 193 (4): 169717011697-1701.

BackgroundDemand for inpatient MRI outstrips capacity which results in long waiting lists. The hospital commenced a routine weekend MRI service in January 2023.AimThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a limited routine weekend MRI service on MRI turnaround times.MethodsWaiting times for inpatient MRI scans performed before and after the introduction of weekend MRI from January 1 to August 31, 2022, and January 1 to August 31, 2023, were obtained. The turnaround time (TAT) and request category for each study were calculated. Category 1 requests were required immediately, category 2 requests were urgent and category 3 requests were routine.ResultsThere was a 6% (n = 128) increase in MRI inpatient scanning activity in 2023 (n = 2449) compared to 2022 (n = 2322). There was a significant improvement in overall mean TAT for inpatient MRIs (p < .001) in 2023 (mean 65.2 h, range 0-555 h) compared to 2022 (mean 98.3 h, range 0-816 h). There was no significant difference in the mean waiting time for category 1 MRIs between 2022 and 2023. There was a significant improvement (p < .001) in mean waiting time in 2023 (mean 37.2 h, range 0-555) compared to 2022 (mean 55.4 h, range 0-816) for category 2 MRI. The mean waiting time for category 3 studies also significantly improved (p < .001) in 2023 (mean 93.4 h, range 1-2663) when compared to 2022 (mean 154.8, range 1-1706).ConclusionRoutine weekend inpatient MRI significantly shortens inpatient waiting times.© 2024. The Author(s).

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