RCS England response to Royal College of Radiologists' workforce census reports

Commenting on the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) clinical radiology and clinical oncology workforce census reports for 2022, Professor Neil Mortensen, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England said:

“The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) new workforce report shines a very important and timely spotlight on NHS cancer diagnosis and care across the country.  

“We strongly echo that the chronic workforce shortages in the NHS are having a devastating impact on cancer patients.  Not only is this causing the delays highlighted in the RCR report, in starting chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment, this is causing critical delays in patients having their surgery too. 

“Patients who cannot have surgery at the planned time, or a scan because of the backlog and disruption to services, may find that their cancer has subsequently spread.  

“The NHS needs more operating theatres and endoscopy suites to provide speedier care.  We are now extremely concerned about operations like cancer surgeries being cancelled or postponed because there just isn’t the capacity to be able to manage them.  The NHS is totally stretched at the moment and the RCR findings illustrate yet another stark reason for the Government to publish the long-awaited workforce plan without any further delay.

“In October 2022 we launched The National Cancer Audit Collaborating Centre. It will deliver six new national cancer audits in breast cancer (primary and metastatic), ovarian, pancreatic, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and kidney cancer.  Our hope is that these audits will also play an important role in achieving better care and outcomes for patients.”   

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. RCR launch 2022 workforce census reports | The Royal College of Radiologists 
2. The Royal College of Surgeons of England provides world-class education, assessment and development to 30,000 surgeons, dental professionals and members of the wider surgical and dental care teams, at all stages of their career. Our vision is to see excellent surgical care for everyone. We do this by setting professional standards, facilitating research and championing the best outcomes for patients.
3. For more information, please contact the Press Office: Telephone: 020 7869 6053/6054/6047; Email: pressoffice@rcseng.ac.uk; Out-of-hours media enquiries: 0207 869 6056.