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BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Cancer care 'time-bomb' warning over doctor shortages in Scotland
Doctors have warned cancer patients in Scotland will wait longer for treatment and diagnosis unless more specialists are reports from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) show that Scotland currently has a 25% shortage of radiologists and a 19% shortage of oncologists, with these shortfalls expected to rise by RCR described cancer care as a "ticking time bomb" and warned that a patient's risk of death can increase by 10% for every month treatment is Secretary Neil Gray told the BBC the government is "investing heavily" to recruit more oncologists and radiologists. Dr Katharine Halliday, president of the RCR, said: "Patients are being failed by a chronic lack of radiologists and oncologists."Despite the best efforts of NHS staff, there aren't enough doctors to ensure prompt, safe and effective care and the outlook is bleak."The government must train up more radiologists and oncologists to defuse this ticking time bomb for cancer diagnosis and treatment."The two RCR reports show the results of a "workforce census" of clinical radiology and clinical oncology staff in show regional disparities in staff shortages, with 34 radiologists currently needed to meet demand in the north of Scotland, whereas nine are needed in south-east north of Scotland is also expected to see a 43% shortfall in the number of oncologists by 2029, compared with 31% across Scotland as a whole. Neil Gray told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "We've got a 40% increase in the number of radiologists from 10 years ago, and a 27% increase in the number of oncologists compared to 10 years ago, and we're supporting the training of more so that we can help to address the demand that there is in the system."He added there has been a increased demand on cancer services, and the NHS is treating more patients than it was 10 years added: "We need to both address the demand upon services, which is what we are seeking to do by reducing waiting times, but also seek to reduce the potential for people to have to seek cancer services by addressing the population health reasons as to why there is an increased level of cancer in society."The reports also detail a "retention crisis" among cancer specialists - the median age of consultant clinical radiologists leaving the NHS was 38 in 2024, compared with 58 the year in 10 leavers last year were also under the age of added that government is also investing in wellbeing measures to help improve staff retention.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘Postcode lottery' sees cancer patients face delays to treatment
A new report has revealed that cancer patients across the UK are experiencing "dangerous" delays in their care due to widespread staff shortages. The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has warned that these gaps in the cancer workforce are putting patient safety at risk. Despite some increases in staffing, the college asserts that these are not keeping pace with the growing demand from patients. The RCR has called on the government to take immediate action to address what it describes as a "ticking time bomb" for cancer patients. According to the RCR, pledges to reduce cancer waiting lists are unattainable without an increase in staff. Their reports on oncology and radiology staffing shortages highlight that these issues are creating a "postcode lottery" for patients, with smaller cancer centres more likely to report concerns over workforce shortages. The report on oncologists, or cancer doctors, indicates that 70 per cent of heads of service at cancer centres are worried about the impact of workforce shortages on patient safety. Furthermore, 23 per cent reported that they were unable to hire additional staff due to recruitment freezes. One consultant clinical oncologist told the RCR: 'Safe delivery of cancer treatment is becoming increasingly impossible.' Another said: 'Our waiting times for breast radiotherapy are now the worst I have ever known in 20 years. Patients are waiting over four weeks to be seen … and then another eight weeks to start radiotherapy.' Meanwhile, the report on radiologists – the specialists who use clinical images to diagnose, treat and manage medical conditions and diseases, including cancer – highlights how the radiology workforce grew by 4.7% in 2024, but demand for CT and MRI imaging grew by 8%. One consultant radiologist said: 'Patients are waiting longer than they should … and we have had several delayed cancer diagnoses as a result.' The RCR has predicted that by 2029 there will be a 39% shortfall in the number of radiologists in the UK, and there will be a 19% shortfall in oncologists. The college said workforce pressures are also forcing staff to take early retirement – the average age of radiologists leaving the NHS workforce is now just 50 years old, down from 55 in 2020, and the average age a consultant clinical oncologist leaves is now 54, from 59 in 2022. Dr Katharine Halliday, president of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: 'Patients are being failed by a chronic lack of radiologists and oncologists. 'Despite the best efforts of NHS staff, there aren't enough doctors to ensure prompt, safe and effective care – and the outlook is bleak. 'We are doing all we can to boost productivity, but there's a limit to how far we can go. The reality is we simply don't have enough staff. 'Any credible plan to cut waiting lists relies on having the headcount to meet the demand we face today, let alone tomorrow. 'The longer we delay action, the worse it gets. The government must train up more radiologists and oncologists to defuse this ticking time bomb for cancer diagnosis and treatment.' Commenting on the report, Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said: '(Bowel cancer) is treatable and curable if diagnosed early, but too many patients are facing long delays to start their treatment after going to their GP with symptoms. 'These delays may lead to the cancer spreading, making it harder to treat successfully. 'To fix this problem we must address the longstanding shortage of staff and equipment to deliver diagnostic and treatment services and meet the growing demand.' Chiara De Biase, from Prostate Cancer UK, added: 'These latest findings are extremely concerning. Prostate Cancer UK would urge the Government to look at the RCR's recommendations to ensure the workforce required to diagnose and treat the most common cancer in England are in post, trained and supported to execute their roles to best of their abilities.' Claire Rowney, chief executive at Breast Cancer Now, added: 'The worrying reality right now is that staff shortages continue to deny far too many people with breast cancer a timely diagnosis and quick access to potentially lifesaving treatments that they should be able to count on. 'Instead, they're facing long, anxious waits for this care. 'We recognise the intense challenges facing the health service, and the tireless efforts of its hard-working staff. 'However, this situation has to be addressed and the Government's upcoming national cancer plan for England offers a vital opportunity to bring about this much-needed change.' A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'This Government inherited a broken NHS where too many cancer patients are waiting too long for treatment. But through our Plan for Change, we are determined to tackle delays, diagnose cancer earlier and treat it faster. 'We are delivering 40,000 more appointments every week, investing £1.5 billion in both new surgical hubs and AI scanners, rolling out cutting-edge radiotherapy machines to every region in the country, and backing our radiologists and oncologists with above-inflation pay rises for the second year in a row. 'Later this year we will also publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to deliver the care patients need.'
The Guardian
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
NHS gave private firms record £216m to examine X-rays in 2024
The NHS handed private firms a record £216m last year to examine X-rays and scans because hospitals have too few radiologists. The amount of money NHS organisations across the UK are paying companies to interpret scans has doubled in five years amid a spike in demand for diagnostic tests. Despite the rise in privatisation, the NHS in England still failed to read 976,000 X-rays and CT and MRI scan results within its one month target – the most ever. Scans play a crucial role in telling doctors if a patient has cancer or a broken bone, for example. The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), which collated the figures from doctors across the UK, said the £216m given to private firms in 2024 was 'a false economy' which it blamed on the NHS's failure to recruit enough specialists to read all the scans patients have in its hospitals. The college fears that the growing outsourcing of scan analysis risks creating 'a vicious cycle' in which NHS radiology services are increasingly weakened and its doctors drawn to private work. Dr Katharine Halliday, the RCR's president, said: 'The current sticking plaster approach to managing excess demand in radiology is unsustainable and certainly isn't working for patients, who face agonising waits for answers about their health. 'It is a false economy to be spending over £200m of NHS funds outsourcing radiology work to private companies and evidence of our failure to train and retain the amount of NHS radiologists we need.' RCR figures show the NHS across the four home nations had 4,923 consultant radiologists in 2023, which was 1,962 fewer than the 6,467 it believes are needed – a 30% shortfall. The college's latest annual census of radiology services found that the amount NHS trusts and health boards have handed to private firms across the UK rose dramatically from £108m in 2019 to £174m in 2023 and then by another 24% year on year to last year's £216m. David Rowland, the director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest thinktank, which tracks NHS privatisation, said the NHS's increasing outsourcing of the reporting of scans is helping to fuel a boom in private diagnostic services, the total value of which experts say is now £10.7bn. He said: 'The increasing reliance of the NHS on private diagnostic services has only occurred because the NHS has been defunded over the last decade and there hasn't been sufficient investment in capital infrastructure such as new scanners. 'Relying on private finance to fill that gap is both more costly and risks hollowing out NHS [radiology] departments, as has happened in many other areas of outsourced care.' As a consequence the health service had fewer opportunities to train new radiologists, which endangered the long-term viability of its own radiology services, he added. Sign up to Headlines UK Get the day's headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The RCR's figures were supplied by clinical directors of NHS radiology services. They also show that almost every NHS radiology department now outsources at least some of its workload to private firms, which are based in the UK and abroad. The Department of Health and Social Care said paying private firms to interpret scan results was a good use of NHS funding and a vital way of ensuring that happens promptly. A DHSC spokesperson said: 'Given the scale of NHS waiting lists, it would be a dereliction of duty not to use every available resource to get patients the care they need. 'The independent sector will play a vital role in busting the backlog. This has contributed to our significant progress, with the 2m extra NHS appointments we promised being delivered seven months early.' The updated version of the NHS's long-term workforce plan for England, due this summer, would give the health service the personnel it needed to cope with demand, they added.
