This strategy sets out a proposal for implementing collaborative imaging networks on a national basis across England, delivering better quality care, better value services for patients and providing NHS staff opportunities to develop their career and increase their productivity.
Since 2018, NHS Improvement have been working with NHS clinical leads to build a national strategy for imaging networks using the data we have collected to construct a picture of NHS imaging services across England.
"Our data shows high vacancy rates across imaging services and ageing imaging equipment, which coupled with rising demand, is putting extreme pressure on delivering timely imaging services and providing high-quality patient care. The data also shows unwarranted variation between trusts in both pay and non-pay costs.
By bringing together clinical expertise through a networking model, we can reduce unwarranted variation, provide better quality care, better value services for patients and give NHS staff the opportunity to develop their careers. We can also deliver financial efficiencies, which can be reinvested into imaging services to ensure their sustainability.
This strategy complements the recently awarded £200m of capital funding dedicated to improving the quality of diagnostic imaging equipment to support cancer screening and speed up diagnosis. This is a step towards achieving the NHS Long Term Plan objective of diagnosing three quarters of cancers at an early stage by 2028 through improved screening processes."
Source: NHS Improvement 5th November 2019