Norfolk cancer doctor: Long-term investment key to better treatment
There's a warning that current delays are creating a "ticking time bomb" for cancer patients- according to The Royal College of Radiologists
A cancer doctor in Norfolk says long-term investment in staff is key to ensuring treatment for this disease is quick, effective and modern.
The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) is warning that these patients are facing "dangerous" delays to care because of staff shortages.
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Dr Tom Roques works at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital:
"There's lots of great new treatments that are now coming online, the likes of getting drugs to people to stop their cancer coming back or to treat it if it does return.
"The risk is that we can't do this in an equitable way across the whole of the country, if there aren't enough staff in place to give and provide those treatments.
"We're still in an analogy age in much of the health system, where we have to open up multiple programmes for each individual patient.
"We're not using electronic dictation tools that could transcribe what we say to patients and write the letters for us. That just adds to the time and complexity of the whole situation".
More of the report:
The college said that any increase in the workforce is not keeping up with patient demand as it called for the Government to act to address the "ticking time bomb" for cancer patients.
It said pledges to bring down cancer waiting lists cannot be delivered without more staff, in two reports on the staff shortages in oncology and radiology.
Staffing issues are creating a "postcode lottery" for patients whereby smaller cancer centres were more likely to report worries over workforce shortages, the RCR said.
The report on oncologists, or cancer doctors, highlights how seven in 10 heads of service at cancer centres said they were concerned about the impact workforce shortages had on patient safety.
And 23% reported they were not allowed to hire more staff thanks to a recruitment freeze.
One consultant clinical oncologist told the RCR: "Safe delivery of cancer treatment is becoming increasingly impossible."
Another said: "Our waiting times for breast radiotherapy are now the worst I have ever known in 20 years. Patients are waiting over four weeks to be seen ... and then another eight weeks to start radiotherapy."
Meanwhile, the report on radiologists - the specialists who use clinical images to diagnose, treat and manage medical conditions and diseases, including cancer - highlights how the radiology workforce grew by 4.7% in 2024, but demand for CT and MRI imaging grew by 8%.
One consultant radiologist said: "Patients are waiting longer than they should ... and we have had several delayed cancer diagnoses as a result."
The RCR has predicted that by 2029 there will be a 39% shortfall in the number of radiologists in the UK, and there will be a 19% shortfall in oncologists.
The college said workforce pressures are also forcing staff to take early retirement - the average age of radiologists leaving the NHS workforce is now just 50 years old, down from 55 in 2020, and the average age a consultant clinical oncologist leaves is now 54, from 59 in 2022.
What's the Government said on this?
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "This Government inherited a broken NHS where too many cancer patients are waiting too long for treatment. But through our Plan for Change, we are determined to tackle delays, diagnose cancer earlier and treat it faster.
"We are delivering 40,000 more appointments every week, investing £1.5 billion in both new surgical hubs and AI scanners, rolling out cutting-edge radiotherapy machines to every region in the country, and backing our radiologists and oncologists with above-inflation pay rises for the second year in a row.
"Later this year we will also publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure the NHS has the right people in the right places to deliver the care patients need."