In its newly-released Collaborative Ultrasound Manifesto, the Society of Radiographers has called for a halt in recruitment freezes for NHS trusts that are not meeting their patient diagnosis targets.
Published on Monday, 8 June, the manifesto outlines the shared priorities of the ultrasound profession and dictates the workforce’s current challenges, what it requires to succeed and a number of proposed solutions for success.
The manifesto also highlights the issues within the ultrasound workforce that are restricting skills development, and concludes with a call to action for national decision-makers to provide multi-year funding for training.
Written through collaborative effort, the manifesto is a joined document by the SoR, radiography trade association AXREM, the British Institute of Radiology, the British Medical Ultrasound Society and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
First step in investigation
If a person discovers a lump or bump on their body, the first step in investigating this is often an ultrasound scan. Richard Evans, CEO of the Society of Radiographers, said that lowering the current cancer waiting times will be difficult if the workforce can’t be increased to meet demand.
“If sonography is the starting point for cancer diagnosis, it will be extremely hard to reduce cancer waiting times with the current workforce shortfall,” he said. “This is why it’s vital that trusts that are not meeting their targets for diagnosis should not be allowed to introduce recruitment freezes in their imaging departments.”
Workforce shortages an ongoing issue
The wider radiographic workforce - including the ultrasound workforce - has long faced shortages, an issue addressed frequently by the Society of Radiographers.
In the new ultrasound manifesto, workforce shortages are presented as being further pressurised by recruitment freezes, which have been implemented as a cost-saving measure. To address this, the manifesto suggests that NHS trusts that are not meeting diagnostic targets should be prevented from enacting recruitment freezes.
Sonographers - who carry out most of the diagnostic ultrasound screening - are faced with increasing demand, rising by an estimated 5.9 per cent each year, which is beyond the capacity for current workforce expansion.
Launch event
The manifesto was officially launched at the UK Imaging and Oncology congress (UKIO) 2026 on Monday.
The launch event featured speeches from Katie Thompson, SoR president, Sally Edgington, AXREM representative and Gill Collinson, IPEM representative.
Read the full ultrasound manifesto here.
(Picture by Eva Slusarek)