Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many radiology appointments were delayed due to staff shortages in each of the last 12 months.

The data is not held in the format requested. However, there are record numbers of people working in the National Health Service overall and the NHS has recently published a Long Term Workforce Plan which sets out long term workforce projections. As of September 2023, there are currently almost 17,800 full-time equivalent diagnostic radiographers working in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 1,300 or 8.1% more than in 2022 and over 2,600 or 17.4% more than in 2019.

The NHS is prioritising patient safety and will continue to do its best to maintain appointments and elective procedures wherever possible. Cancelled appointments that need to be rescheduled will be done so as a priority.