The UK's National Health Service spent £1.4 billion (€1.6 billion) over the past five years on short-term measures to address a chronic shortage of clinical radiologists, according to preliminary data from the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) 2025 Clinical Radiology Workforce Census.
Spending reached a record £362 million (€417.6 million) in 2025, with outsourcing to private teleradiology companies accounting for £241 million (€278 million) -- a £25 million (€28.8 million) increase on 2024, the RCR said. The cost of outsourcing has doubled since 2021 and is projected to reach £454 million (€523.7 million) by 2030.
Despite record outsourcing spending, nearly one million scan results in England took longer than a month to be interpreted in 2025, according to NHS England data. Demand for CT and MRI scans grew by 8% in 2024, while the radiology workforce grew by only 4.7%, the RCR noted. The UK currently faces a shortage of almost 2,000 clinical radiologists, a 29% workforce shortfall.
The RCR said that training 10% more clinical radiologists per year would save the NHS £100 million (€115.4 million) over 10 years compared with continuing to rely on outsourcing.
Access the full report here.
