Funding plans to increase elective appointments in the NHS will also include investments of £1.5 billion for surgical hubs and scanners, alongside £70 million for radiotherapy machines
The funding will support the Labour government’s promise to deliver an extra 2 million NHS operations, scans and appointments per year in the hope of cutting waiting lists.
Welcoming this investment, the SoR said new machinery will be more efficient and effective than equipment it replaces in many departments.
'Teach needs people'
This funding adds to the £1.8 billion already invested in elective activity this year, and comes following Lord Ara Darzi’s independent report into the NHS, which found the service was in “critical condition”, with more more than 7.6 million people on the waiting list for appointments, scans or operations in August 2024.
Charlotte Beardmore, SoR executive director of professional policy, said: “We’re encouraged that the government is willing to invest in equipment to help close the gap between the demand for treatment and the capacity to deliver. It is an important first step.
“However, investment in technology alone is not enough. Tech needs people. We’re heard from therapeutic radiographers – our members responsible for planning and delivering radiotherapy – that chronic workforce shortages mean that they are not able to treat patients as quickly as they would like.”
Ms Beardmore explained that members had expressed concern over too few radiographers being available for each machine, leaving equipment idle for parts of the week.
Others have explained their need to triage cancer patients and only deliver immediate treatment to the most urgent cases because of the shortage of Therapeutic Radiographers.
'The SoR is ready to engage positively'
“Radiotherapy equipment needs Therapeutic Radiographers, and imaging services need more diagnostic radiography staff – if the government truly wants to reduce waiting lists, then they need to come in the same business plan,” added Ms Beardmore.
“The SoR is ready to engage positively. We want to be part of the solution to the crisis in the NHS. We welcome investment in technology that enables our members to deliver the best patient care they can. But a multifaceted problem needs a multifaceted solution – and equipment is only one part of it.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Our NHS is the lifeblood of Britain. It exemplifies public services at their best, there for us when we need it and free at the point of use, for everyone in this country.
“That’s why I am putting an end to the neglect and underinvestment it has seen for over a decade now. We will be known as the government that took the NHS from its worst crisis in its history, got it back on its feet again and made it fit for the bright future ahead of it.”
'Broken, but not beaten'
Health and Social Care secretaryWes Streeting said: “Our NHS is broken, but it’s not beaten, and this Budget is the moment we start to fix it.
“The Chancellor is backing the NHS with new investment to cut waiting lists, which stand at an unacceptable 7.6 million today. Alongside extra funding, we’re sending crack teams of top surgeons to hospitals across the country, to reform how they run their surgeries, treat more patients, and make the money go further.”
Last week, the government launched ‘Change NHS: help build a health service fit for the future’, a national conversation to help develop the 10 Year Health Plan, which will set out its long-term vision for healthcare.
The Radiography Manifesto, published in March 2024, calls on political parties to: commit to inflation-proof pay awards and pay restoration to 2008 levels; ensure increasing demand can be met with strategic workforce planning; enable people to enter, develop and progress within the radiography profession; ensure safe working practices, adequate staffing numbers and a skills mix in all areas of radiography; provide adequate funding for a world-class health and social-care system throughout the UK.
(Image: Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, by WPA Pool via GettyImages)