Radiology staffing concerns threaten Theresa May’s cancer strategy
U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May recently announced a new cancer strategy by implementing widespread rapid diagnostic centers across the country, in an effort to increase early detection and diagnosis, while improving cancer survival rates. But with a shortage of radiologists in the U.K., is this possible?
"We will increase the early detection rate from one-in-two today, to three-in four by 2028 by lowering the age at which we screen for bowel cancer from 60 to 50, investing in the very latest scanners and building more rapid diagnostic centers,” May said at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, England.
Under May’s new proposed plan, the National Health Service (NHS) would create a nation-wide network of rapid diagnostic centers to “step-change” how the U.K. diagnoses cancers. General practitioners (primary care physicians) would send patients with cancer-like symptoms to the centers to be diagnosed within two to three weeks.
“The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) has welcomed Theresa May’s focus on early detection of cancer in her Conservative Party Conference speech today, while questioning how a step-change will be achieved without funding for more radiologists and clinical oncologists,” said Nicola Strickland, MD, president of the RCR in a prepared statement issued on Oct. 3.
For a program such as the one May has proposed to become a reality, a “substantiated and thought through” plan must be implemented, Strickland noted.
The NHS spent more than $150 million in 2017 to outsource patient scans in response to the shortage of radiologists, according to a recent radiologist workforce report issued by the RCR.
Rapid diagnostic centers require dedicated imaging practitioners and oncologists to treat patients; the RCR questions how these centers will be staffed with an already over-stretched radiology workforce and few new radiology trainees.
“We very much look forward to seeing the detail of the government’s new cancer strategy and hope that both it, and the forthcoming NHS Long Term Plan for England, actively address the missing element in the Prime Minister’s speech—our struggling workforce,” Strickland concluded.
“We know our hospitals have the capacity and full capability to train the radiologists needed to bring about Mrs. May’s promised step-change in early cancer diagnosis, if only the government would fund more radiology trainees. The very latest scanners and one-stop clinics will be useless to patients without the increased numbers of imaging doctors and oncologists we will need to run them.”
As a senior news writer for TriMed, Subrata covers cardiology, clinical innovation and healthcare business. She has a master’s degree in communication management and 12 years of experience in journalism and public relations.