by Annabel Bentley MBBS FRCS, Group Chief Medical Officer, Medica Group
Attending the Royal College of Radiologists Clinical Directors Day on 13 March 2026 was a timely reminder that radiology is now operating at the limits of what the current system can sustain. The pressures facing departments are no longer emerging risks – they are present, persistent, and intensifying.
Imaging demand continues to rise, driven by increasingly complex CT and MRI activity at around +5% pa and overall, at around 7% pa from expanding clinical reliance on imaging across urgent and cancer pathways. Yet the consultant radiologist workforce is not growing at anywhere near the same pace, at around 2%. Recruitment freezes across the NHS are further constraining capacity, leaving departments stretched in the short-term and unable to plan for the long-term because resident doctors can’t find consultant posts. This leaves remaining clinicians exposed to growing operational and professional risk. This is not a short‑term fluctuation; it is a structural problem and threat to sustainability.
What was striking throughout the discussions was a shared acknowledgement that incremental fixes are unlikely to close the gap. Expecting radiologists to absorb ever‑greater workload within unchanged work models is neither realistic nor safe.
If we are serious about protecting quality, training, and patient outcomes, then we must be equally serious about redesigning how radiology services are delivered. At Medica, we see teleradiology as part of that picture, not as a replacement for local teams, but working in partnership to provide flexible support, helping to match scarce radiologist capacity to variable demand in a safe, governed way.
The solution to address current pressures on the NHS will require service redesign, supported by clinically governed use of technology and AI. This includes the appropriate integration of external reporting capacity from teleradiology providers such as Medica as part of a sustainable, whole-system approach.
Work redesign must be clinically led. We believe that working in close partnership with the Royal College of Radiologists and frontline radiologists is essential to developing reporting workflows that are safer, more efficient, and aligned with professional standards set out by the College.
Technology, including AI, has a role to play in delivering efficiencies and reducing errors, but only when deployed with appropriate clinical monitoring for each use case, with robust governance and a focus on reducing (not redistributing) workload across the end-to-end patient journey.
Equally, flexible and responsive new workforce models must also be part of the solution, allowing capacity to be flexed where demand is highest without compromising quality. Medica is committed to working as part of the wider NHS family, with the principles of quality and safety at the centre of everything we do.
The message from Royal College of Radiologists Clinical Directors Day was clear: the future of radiology depends on doing things differently, working in partnership, and doing so sooner rather than later. I’m optimistic that by working together, we can make the necessary changes to manage diagnostics differently, for the benefit of both patients and radiologists.
If you work in an NHS hospital or are a UK radiologist or radiographer and would find it helpful, we’d welcome a short 15-minute call with you to hear your perspective; or if you’d like a peer–to–peer conversation, to hear how others are approaching these challenges in practice please get in touch through this form.