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Mar 2019
Shortage of cancer specialists ‘puts care at risk’
Experts have warned that a shortage of cancer specialists will affect the ability of the NHS to provide front-line patient care.
A census by the Royal College of Radiologists of leading cancer centres in the UK found that over 7.5 per cent of posts were vacant, and the services were maintained only through large amounts of overtime. It added that this situation was unmanageable and would put patients at risk.
Although the NHS have said that plans to increase doctor numbers are in place, the college said that this would not be enough to cover the rising demand for care, brought about partly through the increasing number of retiring specialists.
Dr Tom Roques from the Royal College of Radiologists, said “The UK is seeing more and more fantastic innovations in cancer treatment from the introduction of new immunotherapy drugs to high energy proton beam radiotherapy.
“These doctors are vital to the rollout of these new therapies but we do not have enough of them and our workforce projections are increasingly bleak.”
There are currently 863 full-time oncologists employed by the NHS in the UK, and a further 70 posts which are currently vacant, most of which have remained unfilled for at least 12 months.
Macmillan Cancer Support’s Dr Rosie Loftus, said “We know that hard-working NHS professionals are already struggling to cope with escalating workloads, which are in part due to staffing challenges.
“Gaps in the workforce can lead to longer waits to start treatment, which in turn add to the worry and anxiety many people already feel following their diagnosis.
To meet the bold ambitions for improving cancer care, we urgently need a costed plan to increase and sustain the number of staff needed to deliver them.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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