Patients miss out on cancer care amid staff crisis

Dr Grant Baxter hit out amid increasing frustration among radiologists over staff shortages and fears that in some parts of Scotland departments are on the verge of folding.

Read more: NHS Scotland spends nearly £4m sending scans and X-rays to private firms amid radiology crisis

Writing in the Herald today, Dr Baxter said the crisis is having a major impact on patients - especially those with cancer. Radiologists play a crucial role in analysing CT and MRI scans for the disease.

He said: "Waiting times continually increase – largely due to imaging backlogs – cancers go undiagnosed, patients cannot be treated as their scans are not reported on time, patients’ anxiety and worry over pending scan reports can last for weeks and months, and it goes on.

"Life-saving interventional radiology procedures, cancer treatments and palliative cancer procedures almost function on a postcode lottery due to lack of imaging experts."

Read more: Global recruitment drive for radiologists launched

Dr Baxter, a consultant radiologist based in Glasgow and chair of the Standing Scottish Committee of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), said the Scottish Government should train more home-grown junior doctors to become radiologists instead of trying to lure medics from abroad.

Dr Grant Baxter

The Scottish Government will fund an extra ten trainee radiologists from this year - taking the total annual intake to 34 - but Dr Baxter said this "will barely cover expected retirements, never mind the posts currently sitting empty".

He said the service needed "at least 25 extra trainees every year" and stressed that demand was already there from junior doctors since "we see four applicants for every trainee radiology job".

In February, the Scottish Government launched an international recruitment drive aiming to bring 32 consultant radiologists to Scotland through targeted advertising in Europe, India, Australia, Canada and the US.

Read more: Radiologists warn 'tsunami of retirements' putting cancer care in Scotland at risk 

It is understood that the response has been disappointing with around 30-40 applicants to date, but few suitable candidates.

One Lothian-based radiologist, who asked not to be named, said colleagues involved in the interview process had been told to "drop standards and set off the cuff tests" to try to boost the numbers hired.

The Scottish Government declined to reveal how many radiologists have been recruited to date, but Health Secretary Shona Robison said there has been a "positive response".

She added: "To date, offers of appointment have been made in some participating boards and activity is on-going."

One radiologist in NHS Highland - which confirmed to the Herald that it has not hired any extra radiologists to date through the initiative - said looming retirements and resignations will reduce the number of consultant radiologists at Raigmore Hospital to 7.5, plus one locum, by August.

This compares to six in 1999, despite an enormous rise in demand for the service and an increasing complexity of scans and procedures.

The radiologist, who asked not to be named, added: "These figures include the retirement and resignation of the remaining two Interventional Radiologists here which means that in August there is a very real threat to that service."

Interventional radiology covers a range of minimally-invasive tests and treatments, such as balloon angioplasty to open blocked arteries or injections to cut off the blood supply to tumours.

The most recent workforce statistics for Scotland show that vacancies for consultant radiologists in NHS Scotland are the highest of any medical speciality, with 14 per cent of posts empty.

There are shortages UK-wide. RCR said the situation is worst in Northern Ireland and "slightly better" in England than Scotland, but new radiologist workforce data will be published in July.

Health boards are increasingly sending scans and X-rays to commercial imaging companies, some in India and Australia, in a bid to clear the backlog.

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: "Scotland remains an attractive place for [radiology] trainees to work; at the end of Round One recruitment this year, we have a 100 per cent fill rate.

“The 10 extra radiology trainees per year demonstrates our commitment towards improving services, but isn’t predicated on replacing retiring consultants, and we expect Health Boards to plan future service provision to achieve the most appropriate skills mix that delivers the best outcomes for patients.

“Scotland’s NHS now has more staff than ever before, up by 12,400 since 2007, and our health workforce benefits enormously from the contribution made by staff from across the European Union. That’s one of the reasons why freedom of movement, an integral part of Single Market membership, is so important for Scotland.”