Scotland is in the Midst of a Severe Radiologist Crisis

Scotland seems to have a burgeoning healthcare crisis on its hands. The Scottish National Party (SNP) is being held accountable for mismanaging the country’s healthcare system by failing to sufficiently train radiologists and neglecting to adequately staff hospitals with physicians.

According to the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), patients’ health is at risk due to wide-spread physician vacancies, scarcity of trainees, and rising demand of radiology services. Just in the last five years, the need for radiology services has risen by 55 percent, says the RCR. Currently, some cancer patients are waiting longer than a month for diagnosis and treatments.

”Scottish radiology is on the brink of collapse,” RCR chairman Grant Baxter, MD, told The Telegraph. “If that happens there will be no medical diagnoses or surgical operations at all, since none can occur without radiologists interpreting the scans and X-rays.”

The RCR is asking the government to recruit radiologists from abroad in order to fill the overwhelming number of open positions, implement stronger training programs, and increase advanced off-side image reading technology.

RCR researchers claim that 90 percent of Scottish hospitals are unable to accomplish their daily radiology duties. In fact, only two of Scotland’s National Health Service health boards offer 24-hour emergency non-invasive procedures.

Radiology isn’t the first specialty struggle under the SNP. The Royal College of Midwives claims the country is suffering from a shortage of midwives, and that there is a rising disparity of older midwives to younger practitioners.