How much does an individual CT scan cost the NHS? Something to think about?

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has ever taken the time to find out how much an individual CT scan costs the NHS? Things like how much electricity is used during that 10 minute scan (for example), the staff needed for that patient (radiographers, radiologists, nurses etc.) and if you're really clever, working out how much in typical salaries would have been spent for scanning this individual patient. The examination that I'm thinking of is the brain following trauma.

I know any calculations would be theoretical but if someone is willing to take the time to work a few things out they will get 10 wonderful points plus an additional two for just posting!

I want to know how much the NHS are spending on CT brain scans per patient...

Thanks for reading!

All these things have in fact been calculated quite carefully, not just head scans, but just about any procedure (certainly within Radiology) that you could think of. There are several reasons for this.
1. So the department knows how much to charge the fundholders (e.g. Primary Care Trusts) or private sector if appropriate.
2. So the managers know how much the department costs to run when they want to start/stop services.
3. To get an idea of how useful a procedure is in terms of the cost per information etc.
4. With the advent of 'fee for service' departments, 'Choose and Book', 'Commission of Health Improvement' etc, costs have to be known for purposes of the internal market.

In any event, it probably costs about 拢200 to do a head scan, though this varies depending on the patient, time of day, complexity of case etc. For example, a patient suffering head injuries in the night requiring an emergency scan would result in the Radiologist and Radiographer taking the referral call, coming in from home, starting the scanner (which has to literally 'warm up'), wait for the patient to arrive with accompanying A+E staff/porters etc, maybe with anaesthetist. Move the patient by hand and position them etc etc. (And then the reverse process at the end). Clearly that's a more costly and time consuming process than a patient who walks over from A+E having had a bang to the head at lunchtime to be fitted in to a list that is already in progress.

If anyone could get hold of a list of the actual costs, I'd be very interested to see them too. I daresay they may be fairly closely guarded 'corporate' secrets!

I think to find out this kind of information, you would actually have to go into a hospital and carry out a cost audit yourself. I'm not sure how receptive hospitals would be to this idea... You don't say whether you work for the nhs or not.

I assume that before the equipment was purchased/ introduced into routine use, a similar kind of survey of cost would have been carried out. Maybe you could track something down on the internet, or again, speak to a particular nhs trust.

MM

I am a brain trauma person and when i go to the hospital they always want to give me a CT scan i tell them No because i know its just for the insurance i have. It cost $2500 dollars per. good Luck~

This is almost impossible to answer and depends on the financing of equipment, whether the scan is "on-call" how efficient the department is and the grade of staff and their payscale.
The Dept of Health has indicated a tariff price of 拢128 for a routine CT scan but an emergency scan would entail other costs. However using the scanner out of hours doesn't incur finance cost but causes high wear and tear from starting the scanner for just one patient.
One private company in Hereford is able to carry out CT heads for 拢200 and make a profit but they use the "easy-jet" business model and can do the scans at marginal cost at the end of the routine list by running the scanner for the extra few minutes

Registered Nurse replies:
What is important is the 'marginal cost' - i.e. the cost of each individual scan once the fixed costs (the staff, the scanner) have already been allowed for and paid. After all in some hospitals, CT scanners sit completely unused - yet they have been paid for out of the capital budget.
On this basis, a CT scan can cost as little as 拢15 in terms of staff time and expenses. I have that straight from the mouth of the consultant physician - (who orders many CT scans of the head, and who has researched the costs involved seriously), for whom I work (in the NHS) as a lead staff nurse. The figure arose from a comprehensive local audit of department costs, and is therefore broadly reliable.
It really doesn't matter, in terms of costs, whether the radiology dept does 20 scans a day, or 2 - they, and all the equipment are there, and being paid for, no matter what. And they are never used to the max - which is why, working in acute medicine, I can get a CT done (it takes about 20 mins tops) usually in an hour or so.
Contrast that with the 拢540 charged by BUPA and BMI....