RCR reacts to 2025 Spending Review

Responding to the Chancellor’s Spending Review on 11 June 2025, Dr Katharine Halliday, President of the Royal College of Radiologists, said: 

“We are pleased to see a significant funding boost for the NHS, including investment in much-needed technology and digital infrastructure to futureproof the health service. 

We hope to see this reduce agonising waiting times for patients and relieve pressure on hardworking staff. The continued investment in scanners and other essential equipment is a positive step towards this goal. Its success depends on recruiting, training and retaining the diagnostic and cancer workforce, which faces a severe shortage of doctors. 

We welcome efforts to cut spending on temporary staffing, but this must be matched by more permanent roles for doctors who spend years training to work in our NHS – and that means scrapping illogical recruitment freezes for radiologists and oncologists. 

Today’s funding boost will go a long way to revitalise the NHS, and now the forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan and NHS Long Term Workforce Plan must also set out robust plans to ensure there are enough staff to provide the care patients deserve.”