Jeremy Hunt unveils radiologist boost for NHS
1 min read
The Health Secretary has announced that 300 extra radiologists will be taken on in England, in a boost for the NHS.
Mr Hunt also said there will be a further 200 clinical endoscopists hired as part of a pledge to improve cancer diagnoses in the health service.
He said: “We want to save more lives and to do that we need more specialists who can investigate and diagnose cancer quickly.
“These extra specialists will go a long way to help the NHS save an extra 30,000 lives by 2020.”
The announcement comes as a new report by Cancer Research UK, warned NHS cancer services would "slip down the ranks" if staffing levels did not improve.
In a worrying revelation, the report highlighted how radiographers are manning reception desks to cover staff shortages.
It also found that 43% of doctors, nurses and other specialists said they did not have enough time to talk to cancer patients.
The authors of the report wrote: “During our site visits many health professionals highlighted the problems with lack of administrative staff. In some instances, therapeutic radiographers had been asked to man the reception.”
Emma Greenwood from Cancer Research UK said: “If staff don’t have time to do research our world-class health system will start to slip down the ranks.”
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