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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Denis Campbell Health policy editor

NHS gave private firms record £216m to examine X-rays in 2024

A doctor examines a mammogram.
The Royal College of Radiologists, which collated the figures, said the £216m was ‘a false economy’. Photograph: Oksana Krasiuk/Alamy

The NHS handed private firms a record £216m last year to examine X-rays and scans because hospitals have too few radiologists.

The amount of money NHS organisations across the UK are paying companies to interpret scans has doubled in five years as demand rises for diagnostic tests.

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