The government has listened to the Society of Radiographers and agreed to review whether sonography should be a regulated profession.
The Society of Radiographers is thrilled that the government’s new National Cancer Plan includes the following statement: “We will review the evidence and engage stakeholders on the potential benefits to patient safety and service of independent statutory regulation for sonographers, whose skills in ultrasound play a crucial role in cancer pathways.”
This has been a longstanding campaign for SoR, and received particular attention in November last year, when we highlighted the risk that the lack of sonography regulation poses to expectant mothers and their unborn babies. We called for compulsory regulation as the only way to guarantee patient safety and quality of care.
Our concerns received widespread media coverage – and it appears that the government was among those listening. We look forward to engaging with the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS and the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care to discuss this further.
Meanwhile, we hope that the government will be similarly inclined to listen to the comments made by Richard Evans, SoR CEO, in The Independent this week. Mr Evans spoke about the importance of realistic workforce planning to the viability of any cancer plan – and the fact that it needs to be backed up with proper funding.