Work force planning is a matter for local determination, as local work force planners are best placed to assess the health care needs of their local population. The Department continues to ensure the frameworks are in place to support this.
The number of qualified radiographers employed in the national health service has increased by 2,793 (23.72 per cent.) since September 1997.
The number of diagnostic radiographers has increased by 2,171 (20.9 per cent.) since 1997.
The number of therapeutic radiographers has increased by 622 (44.2 per cent.) since 1997.
Headcount Qualified allied health profession 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 20061 All radiographers 11,771 12,118 12,330 10,478 10,655 13,031 13,344 13,900 14,539 14,564 Of which: Diagnostic radiography2 10,364 10,645 10,839 9,169 9,264 11,489 11,687 12,147 12,700 12,535 Therapeutic radiography 1,407 1,473 1,491 1,309 1,391 1,542 1,657 1,753 1,839 2,029 1 More accurate validation in 2006 has resulted in 9,858 duplicate records being identified and removed from the non-medical census. Although this represents less than 1 per cent. of total records, it should be taken into consideration when making historical comparisons. These 9,858 duplicate records, broken down by main staff group, are: 3,370 qualified nurses; 1,818 qualified scientific, therapeutic and technical staff; 2,719 support to doctors and nurses; 368 support to scientific, therapeutic and technical staff; 1,562 NHS infrastructure support; and 21 in other areas. 2 New occupation codes for health care scientists were introduced in 2003. As a result, a small number of staff previously included under diagnostic radiography are now classified within medical physics. Note: The impact of duplicates on full-time equivalent has been minimal with the removal of 507. Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical work force census
The number of consultant radiologists has increased by 632 (42.9 per cent.) since 1997.
Number 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Radiology 1,473 1,514 1,540 1,616 1,683 1,745 1,860 1,928 2,058 2,105 Source: The Information Centre for health and social care.
The annual NHS work force census does not separately identify the number of bowel screening colonoscopists as they are not a registered specialty or profession and consist of people from a number of different work force groups.