Leaders in the UK express concern over financial strains in the National Health Service (NHS) due to an ongoing shortage of radiologists. A report from the Royal College of Radiologists highlights that the NHS spent over $280 million on outsourcing radiology reads in 2025, a 12% increase from 2024 and double the amount spent in 2021. This expenditure could have employed 3,000 radiologists, surpassing the estimated 2,000 needed. The report warns that outsourcing expenses may double again by 2030, with RCR President Stephen Harden stating that reliance on outsourcing is unsustainable. Meanwhile, nearly 1 million scan results still had delays of over a month, highlighting inadequate improvements in imaging backlogs. Concerns about the quality of outsourced reports are prevalent, with many providers needing to double-check these reports, adding to existing workloads. Harden advocates for investing in training more clinical radiologists rather than continuing to increase outsourcing costs.
Tue, 26 May 2026 19:11:21 GMT | Radiology Business