New MRI, X-ray machines ready, but site still waiting to open

Despite demand for MRI and X-ray scans increasing in Luxembourg, the opening of a new imaging centre in the capital has been “thwarted” due to slow negotiations between the operator and the national health fund (CNS), the facility’s owner has said.

Waiting times for MRI appointments currently vary between 20 and 40 days, Marc Berna, director of the Hôpitaux Robert Schuman (HRS) in Kirchberg, said during an interview with radio broadcaster RTL this week.

“The numbers have remained stable,” Berna said on Tuesday, but “we are running a little behind the requirements” set by authorities. The population is growing and getting older, and the number of MRI, X-ray and scanner devices is struggling to keep pace.

One solution is so-called outpatient antennas, locations with medical equipment away from the large hospitals. The CHL, Luxembourg’s largest medical facility, operates one at a site in Potaschberg, near Grevenmacher. The HRS has also had a fully equipped facility in Cloche d’Or for several months – but are not allowed to use it as the necessary negotiations with the CNS, the country’s main health insurer, have stalled.

“The way these discussions haven’t really progressed for two years now, we feel a bit thwarted,” said Berna.

Another solution to reduce waiting times for radiology exams could be a central appointment centre. In other words, instead of patients having to contact hospitals individually, there would be a single point of contact for Luxembourg that would distribute patients to locations throughout the country.

“That would actually be an excellent idea,” said Berna, but “at the moment, it would be very technically demanding if we wanted to implement it”.

A central booking centre would have to deal with a huge number of enquiries. “At HRS alone, we have around 180,000 X-ray examinations a year. In the country as a whole, we probably have three times that volume,” Berna told RTL.

(This article was first published by the Luxemburger Wort. Translated using AI, edited by Aaron Grunwald.)