The U.K. Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) applauds the ambition of the new English Cancer Strategy plan for 2015-2020, but urges that more radiologists and an emphasis on advanced radiotherapy are needed to achieve the strategy's aims.
Early diagnosis means more patients having more scans, but at the moment radiology services are unable to cope with the current demand, according to the RCR. It advises that improving access to scans as proposed by the strategy requires a step change in diagnostic capacity, which means more radiologists.
A major increase in the number of clinical radiologist training places, investment in new equipment, and a vigorous overseas recruitment campaign to fill the 421 senior/consultant radiologist posts currently vacant are required, the RCR said.
Also, there will need to be a greater emphasis on advanced radiotherapy and minimally invasive interventional techniques that can cure cancer without the need for radical surgery, the college added.
![A normal mammogram confirmed by three-year radiologic follow-up illustrates reader-marked regions of interest (ROIs) during (A) unaided (round 1) and (B) artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted (round 2) reading. Each colored dot represents an ROI for recall by a human reader. Readers could mark more than one ROI per case, represented by multiple dots of the same color. During AI-assisted reading, the AI system displayed three visible prompts: two with suspicion of malignancy scores of 35% (left mediolateral oblique [L MLO] and craniocaudal [L CC]) and one with a suspicion of malignancy score of 10% (right craniocaudal [R CC]), shown as polygonal overlays. Without AI, six of 10 readers (60%) marked a false-positive ROI. With AI assistance, this fell to two of 10 (20%). R MLO = right mediolateral oblique.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/07/2026-07-14-radiology-mammogram-ai-auto-bias.H0bYO8QlWs.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
