RCR response to the new elective reform plan

Commenting on the publication of a new plan for elective recovery and reform, Dr Katharine Halliday, president of The Royal College of Radiologists said: 

“We welcome the direction of the new Elective Reform Plan, which we hope will go some way in bringing down elective waiting lists. Getting patients to start treatment as early as possible is critical for improving patient outcomes.”

The plan has the right focus in its commitment to bringing down diagnostic delays, including by expanding community diagnostic centres. However, increasing physical capacity for scanning without a corresponding investment in staffing will only exacerbate delays in receiving scan results.

Delays in diagnostics are a well-recognised driver of the current backlogs, as acknowledged in the Government's elective reform plan. These delays stem from a severe national shortage of radiologists and outdated IT systems that hinder the seamless sharing of scans and patient information between healthcare providers.

The ambition for these centres to operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and deliver same-day patient diagnoses is welcome, however currently unrealistic without immediate action to expand the number of NHS radiologists. The workforce is already stretched beyond capacity, struggling to report the growing number of scans being taken.

In the short term, the only way to move closer to achieving these ambitions will be to outsource more scans to private providers, which will lead to NHS radiologists increasingly reporting for outsourcing companies. While this approach might temporarily ease demand, it comes at a high financial cost to the NHS, takes up NHS staff resource, and introduces inefficiencies, as private providers lack access to patients’ full medical histories, often requiring scans to be re-reported. This also represents a missed opportunity to use these scans for training, which is essential for developing a sustainable workforce.

We look forward to seeing how the Government addresses these critical issues in the upcoming Spending Review. As a priority, increasing the number of radiology specialty training places is essential to reducing diagnostic delays and building a resilient, long-term solution to the workforce crisis."