Asked by: Wes Streeting (Labour - Ilford North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of radiologists using existing NHS radiology technology on the time it takes for them to interpret scans.
Answered by Will Quince
It has not proved possible to reply to the hon. Member in the time available before prorogation
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Royal College of Radiologists report Clinical Radiology Workforce Census 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of that report's findings on the number of consultant paediatric interventional radiology posts in (a) the UK and (b) outside London.
Answered by Will Quince
The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) report ‘Clinical Radiology Workforce Census 2022’, published on 8 June 2023, reported that the total interventional radiology workforce grew by 15 whole time equivalent consultants, representing a 2% growth, and that there was a decrease by one consultant in paediatric interventional radiology posts.
Although the Department has not undertaken a formal assessment of the RCR report, it is already taking steps to expand the clinical radiology workforce through funding commitments and has made significant progress since investment. As of March 2023, there were 3,678 full-time equivalent consultants working in the clinical radiology specialism in National Health Service trusts and integrated care boards in England. This is an increase of 174 (5.0%) since last year and 1,404 (61.8%) since March 2010.
The Government has funded an additional 20 Specialty Training year six places for interventional radiologists in 2021/22 and 2022/23. Additionally, Health Education England (HEE) have recently started a new training pathway allowing trainees to start training in interventional radiology at Speciality Training year 1, directly from the foundation year.
In January 2023, HEE announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to increase the number of clinical oncology and clinical radiology specialists in training after the publication of the long-term workforce plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2023/24, NHS England is continuing to invest £50 million in the priorities set out in the Cancer Workforce Plan, including additional medical training places for clinical/medical oncology, radiology, histopathology, and gastroenterology.
As at February 2023 there are 1,641 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the speciality of clinical oncology, which is an increase of 335 (25.7%) since 2019. This includes 865 consultants working in the speciality of clinical oncology, which is an increase of 120 (16.1%) since 2019.
As at February 2023 there are 5,362 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical radiology, which is an increase of 969 (22.0%) since 2019. This includes 3,672 consultants working in the speciality of clinical oncology, which is an increase of 575 (18.6%) since 2019.
The Government has also committed to publishing the Long Term Workforce Plan shortly. The Long Term Workforce Plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
Mentions:
1: Viscount Camrose (Con - Excepted Hereditary) In particular, many of us are familiar with the work done on radiology in AI. - Speech Link
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of (a) doctors specialising in clinical radiology and (b) diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers at Shropshire, Telford, and Wrekin integrated care board.
Answered by Will Quince
As of March 2023, there were 5,350 full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in clinical radiology in National Health Service trusts in England, 269 more than a year ago, representing a 5.3% increase.
As of March 2023, there were 17,006 FTE diagnostic radiographers and 3,024 FTE therapeutic radiographers working in NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England. Compared to March 2022, that is an increase of 882 in diagnostic radiographers, a 5.5% increase, and an increase of 67 in therapeutic radiographers, a 2.3% increase.
In January 2023, Health Education England announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP), published in June 2023, includes an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29. This will increase the potential pipeline for clinical radiologists. The LTWP also sets out planned increases in the training intake for diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers to 2,300 and 475 respectively per year by 2031.
These steps will benefit every integrated care board area, including Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to train specialist staff in the timely (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of cancer.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP) published by NHS England on 30 June 2023 sets out an aim to double the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 places a year by 2031/32, and to work towards this expansion by increasing places by a third, to 10,000 a year, by 2028/29.
The LTWP commits to an adequate growth in foundation placement capacity, as those taking up these new places begin to graduate, and a commensurate increase in specialty training places that meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. This will substantially increase the potential pipeline for the cancer workforce. The Department is working closely with NHS England to make sure we have the right workforce with the right skills up and down the country.
There are more doctors working in clinical oncology and more radiology doctors. As of October 2023, there are almost 1,700 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working on clinical oncology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is 5.2% more than last year, and 62.4% more than in 2010. Additionally, there are over 5,600 FTE doctors working in the speciality of clinical radiology in NHS trusts and other core organisations in England. This is over 300 5.7% more than last year, and 66.8% more than in 2010.
In 2023/24, NHS England is investing an additional £50 million to expand cancer and diagnostics specialists. On 10 January 2023, Health Education England announced that nearly 900 additional medical specialty training posts have been created for this year, including more than 500 in the key areas of mental health and cancer treatment.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to fill vacancies in clinical radiology as part of the long-term workforce plan.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2023/24, NHS England is continuing to invest £50 million in the priorities set out in the Cancer Workforce Plan, including additional medical training places for clinical or medical oncology, radiology, histopathology, and gastroenterology.
The Government has also committed to publishing the Long Term Workforce Plan shortly. The Long Term Workforce Plan will help ensure that we have the right numbers of staff, with the right skills to transform and deliver high quality services fit for the future.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of trained interventional radiologists in the NHS.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of October 2022, there were 1,588 full-time equivalent doctors in training in the clinical radiology specialty in the National Health Service in England. This is an increase of 252, 18.9%, since 2019.
The Government funded an additional 20 Specialty Training year six (ST6) places for interventional radiologists in 2021/22 and 2022/23. These increases in the overall radiology workforce will increase the number of radiologists who can train to deliver interventional radiology and expand national capacity for the paediatric interventional radiology workforce.
To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years. The Plan is for the whole of the NHS workforce, it will not provide detailed workforce assessments for individual services.
Mentions:
1: Robert Neill (Con - Bromley and Chislehurst) through either thrombectomy or other interventions, but we have a shortfall in the number of clinical radiology - Speech Link
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Buckingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Global Radiologists Programme in filling NHS radiology vacancies.
Answered by Will Quince
No specific assessment has been made.