What changed
Cancer patients in Wales are facing delays to diagnostic scans as the country remains 88 radiologists short of the number it needs, a 28% gap. The Royal College of Radiologists says it has seen patients’ conditions deteriorate while waiting for scans and tests, the first time it has reported that happening.
Why it matters
A scan is not just paperwork between appointments. For patients such as Beverly Scott, whose ovarian and peritoneal cancer has been kept stable through continuous treatment, a delay can mean waiting longer to learn whether the disease has spread. Karen Jones, who has faced breast and colon cancer, described the wait for results as “total limbo.”
The shortage is sharpest in north and west Wales, where consultant radiologists are 42% below required levels, compared with 22% in south Wales. The wider workforce grew by only 1.1% in 2024, against 5% across the UK.
Betsi Cadwaladr says it is recruiting, expanding nurse-led oncology services and working more closely with North Wales Medical School. It also says scan-reporting times have improved since April after bringing in a third-party provider, despite increased demand.
That improvement matters, but it does not yet answer the central concern: whether faster reporting can be sustained while the underlying staffing gap remains. The number of patients whose conditions deteriorated, and how many outcomes were directly caused by delays, has not been quantified.
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