I see what is happening on the frontline of cancer care, there is one way to solve this ticking time bomb
5 June 2025, 10:52
In every corner of the country, cancer patients are facing dangerous delays to life-saving scans and treatment because of a chronic shortage of doctors who diagnose and treat the disease.
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That’s according to our latest survey of radiology and oncology leaders – but it won’t be a surprise to my NHS colleagues on the ground.
As a clinical radiologist, I see the pressures of understaffing every day. Patients can wait months for scans, and staff are pushed to breaking point. This low morale means cancer doctors are now leaving the NHS at a younger age than ever before.
Cancer leaders are saying loud and clear that staff shortages are putting patients’ lives at risk. A patient’s risk of death can increase by 10% for every month cancer treatment is delayed.
Despite this strong evidence, in 2024 every radiology department in the UK said that their diagnostic scans were being delayed due to staff shortages.
Worryingly, 9 in 10 cancer centre leaders said that at least some patients had a delayed start to their cancer treatment, and 7 in 10 were concerned about staff shortages putting patients at risk.
Radiology and cancer leaders have given us troubling accounts of the impact of a depleted workforce. One oncologist had seen patients with a terminal cancer diagnosis wait multiple weeks for palliative treatment and deteriorate to the point where treatment was no longer possible. Another said that waiting times for radiotherapy to treat breast cancer were the worst they had ever known, with some patients waiting four weeks to be seen, then another eight weeks to start radiotherapy.
The demand for cancer services from our ageing population is only going to increase, but we’re not training up enough radiologists and oncologists to keep pace. Despite the best efforts of hardworking doctors, we're struggling to chip away at a stubborn backlog and waiting lists that just keep growing.
The government has been rolling out new scanners, radiotherapy machines, and AI tools to reduce admin – all good steps towards speeding up cancer care. But any credible plan to cut waiting lists relies on having the headcount to meet the demand we face today, let alone tomorrow. The longer we delay action, the worse it gets.
Training more staff – in particular radiologists and oncologists – is a long-term solution that would futureproof cancer services. It could save the NHS over £460 million after ten years, compared to expensive quick fixes such as outsourcing to private companies or using locums to fill staffing gaps. This is the only way we’ll defuse this ticking time bomb for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
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Dr Katharine Halliday is a clinical radiologist and President of the Royal College of Radiologists.
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