The New Zealand College of GPs would welcome a move to make CT scans more routine for rugby players with head injuries, it says.
A coroner said this week that a CT scan was the only thing that might have saved young Northland rugby player Jordan Kemp.
Jordan Kemp Photo: FACEBOOK
Kemp, 17, died in 2014 after he was knocked out in a rugby match for the second time in four months.
He had made a tackle with his head was in the wrong position in front of a running player.
Kemp died after surgery at Auckland Hospital, where doctors found he had a subdural haematoma - where blood collects between the skull and the surface of the brain.
The earlier concussion had also aggravated previous problems.
The college's medical director, Richard Medlicott, said the GP who had cleared Kemp to play again had no way of knowing, without a scan, that he had developed a chronic haematoma.
Dr Medlicott said the condition was rare but most GPs would be in favour of making CT scans more readily availability.
"It's clear that you can't use them in all cases of concussion. The vast majority of people with concussion won't have a serious underlying condition like Jordan did."
He said that was in the hands of ACC and district health boards.
