By Andrew Fletcher

BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast

Tesco Clubcard customers are being offered vouchers for CT scans Tesco has been criticised for offering vouchers for health scans through its Clubcard loyalty scheme. The Society of Radiographers (SOR) wants the promotion stopped, saying it is "inappropriate" for the retailer. It says the CT scans involve a risk from exposure to radiation which is not made clear to Clubcard customers before they take up the offer. Tesco says the firm that provides its service employs qualified staff and explains any risks to customers. 'Unnecessary anxiety' SOR chief executive Richard Evans says private scans increase the ranks of the "worried well" - people whose scans uncover abnormalities which later turn out to be benign. There's no evidence of any harmful effect from that kind of exposure

Dr John Giles, Lifescan medical director "I wouldn't want to underplay the sense of relief if something positive and dangerous is found and dealt with in good time," he said. "However, for every one of those there'll be an untold number who are taking up a GP appointment slot for no real reason, who are suffering unnecessary anxiety." SOR recognises that Lifescan - the firm providing the service for Tesco - is a reputable company operating within radiation regulations. However, it thinks it is inappropriate for a retailer such as Tesco to get involved in promoting CT scans. It is also concerned that Tesco is effectively subsidising them by offering £40 worth of Lifescan vouchers for every £10 worth of points under its Clubcard Deals scheme. Early diagnosis Tesco said that Lifescan employed "qualified professional staff to advise on and undertake all scans, providing all customers with a full explanation of the service and any risks involved". Lifescan also rejects the SOR criticisms and says since its launch in 2003 it has helped to save the lives of more than 2,000 people in the UK through early diagnosis. Lifescan medical director Dr John Giles says low doses of radiation are involved. "If someone was going to have a heart scan, a low dose lung scan and a colon scan, the total dose which they'd get from that examination would be something in the order of 10 milliseverts, and that's exactly the same as you would get living in Cornwall for 12 months, just living there," he said. "There's no evidence of any harmful effect from that kind of exposure, otherwise I suppose we'd have to have health warnings up on the signs driving into Cornwall." Regulation Lifescan also insists that it always gives patients a full explanation of what the tests involve and that nobody is tested until they are clear about what will be done and why. But SOR says some of this information should be provided at an earlier stage to Tesco Clubcard customers - a position backed by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment. Nearly two years ago, the committee advised the government that there was little evidence that the benefits of having a scan outweighed the risks for people without symptoms. Chairman Professor Alex Elliott said: "They need to make clear the potential detriment to individuals from CT scans since they are tacitly encouraging take-up." The government held a consultation into the recommendation of the committee's report last summer but has not yet announced whether it will make any changes to the regulation of CT scan providers as a result. A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are currently looking at other evidence on this complex area presented in the consultation and hope to issue a response shortly."



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