Health system 'hemorrhages' $280M on radiologist outsourcing in 1 year
Leaders in the United Kingdom say the country is “hemorrhaging” money trying to keep up with imaging workflows amid an ongoing radiologist shortage.
A new report from the Royal College of Radiologists has revealed that the National Health Service—the publicly funded healthcare system in the U.K.—spent the equivalent of more than $280 million (USD) in 2025 on outsourcing radiology reads. This is 12% more than what was spent on outsourcing in 2024 and double the amount paid in 2021.
The RCR estimates that the amount NHS has spent on short-term radiology solutions could employ 3,000 full-time radiologist salaries—significantly more than the 2,000 radiologists NHS estimates are needed to meet the current demand for imaging.
Imaging leaders do not anticipate that this trend will correct itself any time soon, according to RCR, with outsourcing expenses expected to double again by the 2030.
“Increasing NHS reliance on outsourcing in radiology is not sustainable, and the costs of this are spiraling out of control,” RCR President Stephen Harden, a cardiothoracic radiologist, cautioned in a news release from the college. “In the short term, outsourcing can help to manage diagnostic backlogs, but it cannot be a long-term solution to workforce shortages.”
Perhaps even more concerning is the negligible impact these investments have had on the country’s imaging backlogs. In 2025, nearly 1 million scan results took longer than one month. This is an improvement on wait times in 2024, but leaders say that it is not enough.
There also are concerns about the quality of reports produced by external sources. The new analysis suggests that 86% of NHS providers have expressed concern about the lower quality of outsourced reports. Around that same amount have indicated that these reports need to be double checked by on-site radiologists, adding to their already heavy workloads.
“Clinical radiologists play an essential role in making most diagnoses, but rising demand for scans is outstripping our capacity. The single best investment the NHS could make to reduce waiting lists is to train up more clinical radiologists,” Harden said. “To ignore this call and continue to spend more and more on outsourcing would be an irresponsible and short-sighted use of NHS funds, and would not be in patients’ best interests.”
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.