Consultant radiologist staffing levels in the Republic of Ireland are well below appropriate international benchmarks for the current workload, according to an Insights into Imaging study (21 April 2011).
"The role of the consultant radiologist has changed substantially in recent decades, yet manpower planning is often based on older inappropriate methods of measuring radiologist workload," wrote study author Dr. Adrian Brady of the Faculty of Radiologists of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
In the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland, consultant radiologist staffing levels in public hospitals are centrally controlled by governmental agencies, which make recruiting an arduous task with no link to the workload demands of the department, according to experts. In 2009 the Faculty of Radiologists conducted a study to more adequately measure radiologist time. The researchers studied the various methods for calculating radiologist workload and stated the use of crude study numbers to determine workload is "old-fashioned, discredited, and an inappropriate misuse of data." They found approximately one-third of radiologist time is engaged in activity not easily counted in study numbers.
The study included data from 28 of 38 public hospital radiology departments. The researchers assigned relative value units (RVUs) to easily countable studies and measured hospitals' activity for the year 2009. Radiologist time engaged in activities such as interventional and procedural work, multidisciplinary meetings, teaching, and administration was separately measured.
Average consultant radiologist workload across all 28 hospitals was 57,659.1 crude RVUs and 103,987 net RVUs. An average of 32.47% of full-time radiologists are engaged in noncountable activity, they found. Plain films accounted for 28% to 41% of recorded activity, mammography for 0.8% to 5.8%, ultrasound for 16% to 20%, CT for 27% to 32%, and MR for 5.9% to 15.8%.
Based on the study findings, the Faculty of Radiologists strongly recommends that the method of measuring radiologist workload used in this survey should be the basis for future such measurements in Ireland, replacing other past methods. "The method of measuring and calculating radiologist workload described in this paper is easily adapted for use in other jurisdictions," Brady added.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=100&q=70&w=100)
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
