Responding to November 2022's Diagnostic Waiting Times data for England, Dr Katharine Halliday, President of The Royal College of Radiologists, said:
“Today’s NHSE data is disappointing and tallies with the picture we see on the hospital floor. We see patients waiting longer, being diagnosed at a later stage in their illness, and becoming sicker.
“The figures released today reflect the landscape two months ago, before the crisis in acute care took hold. Based on these figures the NHS in England would have to employ 410 more diagnostic radiology consultants overnight in order to clear the 6 week wait for CT and MRI scans in one month. For context 410 CR diagnostic consultants is equivalent to 10% of the current workforce.
“Doctors are fighting an ever more difficult battle, trying to ensure patients are diagnosed and treated within a safe space of time. The Government need to listen to doctors, or the NHS will lose them. We need a fully costed long term workforce plan to ensure the departments are sufficiently staffed now and in the future, so we can deliver the care that patients deserve.”