Pregnant women and cancer patients are facing delays having vital ultrasound scans due to a shortage of staff which is risking lives, experts say.
NHS sonographers, who carry out scans at 12 and 20 weeks of pregnancy and also help diagnose cancers, warn that one in four job posts are vacant in England with even greater shortages in the north west and south east of England.
The Society of Radiographers, which represents sonographers, says demand for ultrasound has increased in healthcare but there aren’t enough people being trained to do the work.
The government says it’s aware of the pressure facing ultrasound services in hospitals and is planning new services in local communities.
Pregnant women across the UK are offered at least two ultrasound scans – one at 11 to 14 weeks and another between 18 and 21 weeks.
The scans estimate the date of delivery, check on the growth of the baby and look for health conditions that may affect the brain, heart and spinal cord, among other issues.
Some women need additional scans to monitor their baby’s health and their own as the pregnancy progresses.
Katie Thompson, president of the Society of Radiographers and a practising sonographer, says a UK-wide lack of staff is particularly affecting urgent, short-notice scans.
« If somebody’s coming in with concerns about their pregnancy, about their baby, they would like to be scanned that day, if possible, » she says.
But that’s not possible in most hospitals, she says, meaning women have to wait to find out if there are any issues.
« That raises anxiety – and that’s not good to have in pregnancy. »
Some departments are struggling to fit in patients who need these emergency scans and sometimes hospitals have to pull in sonographers from other areas to keep the antenatal services going, at the expense of those other services, according to reports.
Ultrasounds are also heavily relied on to diagnose cancers and check on organs such as the liver, kidneys and spleen.
Sonographers say patients are facing delays here too, which could be « really dangerous for the patient ».
Dr Jenny Barber, consultant obstetrician and vice president for clinical quality at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, called the high vacancy rate « very concerning », particularly as doctors are seeing more women with increasingly complex pregnancies.
She said « meaningful investment in the maternity workforce » was needed.
A census of sonographers by the Society of Radiographers, which was compiled by contacting managers of more than 110 NHS ultrasound departments across the UK, suggests there are shortages of in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England.
In England, where there are 1,821 sonographers, vacancy rates have doubled since 2019 – from 12% to 24%, their analysis found. In the south east of England, 38% of posts were vacant, with 30% vacant in the North West. Only 11% were unfilled in the North East and Yorkshire.
Limited career progression, low pay and better opportunities in the private sector are all reasons sonographers have given for thinking about leaving the NHS, the Society says.
There is growing demand for ultrasound. But training new sonographers « takes quite a while », says Thompson, and numbers can’t be increased very quickly.
She says it’s taking too long to publish the NHS workforce plan – how staff will be recruited for the health service in the future – which hasn’t helped, although a plan for cancer care has already come out.
Thompson said: « You can’t say that you’re going to invest in all these new scanners and open all these community diagnostic centres unless you’ve thought about the professionals who are going to conduct the scans and provide patient care. »
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson in England said: « We recognise the pressures facing diagnostic services, including the sonography workforce, and we are taking action to ensure the NHS has the skilled staff it needs to meet rising demand and deliver timely care to patients. »
The government said it had already taken action to expand services for patients, rolling out new community diagnostic centres and expanding opening hours. It said this was to keep patients away from busy hospitals and cared for in their local communities.
