All UK political parties are failing the NHS ahead of the general election because of one glaring omission from their policies, the Society of Radiographers has warned.
Ahead of polling day on 4 July, politicians from across the political spectrum have been announcing their pledges to help reduce waiting times within the health service.
But all parties’ plans to reduce waiting lists will fall at the first hurdle, according to the SoR, unless staff shortages are also urgently addressed as part of these pledges.
Acute workforce shortages
Richard Evans, CEO of the society, said: “You don’t have to work in the NHS to realise that increasing the number of appointments and buying more scanners to cut waiting lists will only succeed if there are enough healthcare professionals to take those appointments and conduct the scans.
“Not one of the main political parties offers an immediate plan to tackle the acute workforce shortages in the NHS.”
During the election campaign, all the major parties have announced plans to improve NHS care and reduce waiting times.
Labour has pledged 40,000 more NHS appointments every week and to double the number of cancer scanners, the Conservative Party has announced plans to increase the budget to invest in technology, while the Liberal Democrat manifesto set out proposals for new cancer treatment targets.
But these pledges will do nothing to tackle the growing staffing crisis within the NHS, including the shortages of radiographers, the SoR has said.
Mr Evans said: “We hear a lot about how efficient AI is, and how it will speed up the diagnostic process. Obviously, investment in new technology is very welcome. New machines will be more efficient and effective than the ageing equipment in many hospital departments.
“But tech needs people – it doesn’t matter how quickly a scan can be interpreted if there is no-one to conduct the scan in the first place.”
A million patients waiting
More than a million patients are currently waiting to see a Diagnostic Radiographer for a scan. Around one in five patients – 20 per cent – is now waiting at least six weeks to be seen by a member of the radiography workforce.
There are acute shortages in radiography departments: the average vacancy rate for radiography has risen to 13.4 per cent, and some departments’ vacancy rates are much higher.
The Society of Radiographers is now calling on all political parties to commit to pay restoration for the radiography workforce.
This is the only way to ensure that NHS departments are fully staffed and NHS workers fairly treated, and that patients receive the care they need, when they need it.