Delays in cancer care due to shortage of radiologists

Figures seen by the BBC have revealed that a shortage of senior radiologists is causing delays for patients in the UK, affecting cancer care.

With radiologists' workload of reading and interpreting scans having increased by 30 per cent in the last five years, the Royal College of Radiologists say that the situation is unacceptable and must be tackled by ministers. Over the same period, the number of consultant radiologists in England has gone up by just 15 per cent.


 

This means that NHS hospitals have increasingly had to outsource analysis of complex scans to private companies or pay for existing staff to do overtime, with the total annual bill for this across the UK having doubled over the five-year period to £116 million.

The Royal College of Radiologists is stressing the need for more trainee radiologists, with staff shortages failing to keep pace with an ageing population and the more sophisticated technology that is now available, meaning radiologists can do more for their patients.

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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