Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many and what proportion of breast radiologist posts were unfilled in each of the last five years for which data is available.

The Department does not collect this information.

National Health Service organisations are best placed to decide how many staff they employ tailoring services to meet the needs of their patients and local communities, to deliver safe care.

Health Education England is responsible for ensuring a secure workforce supply that reflects the needs of local service users, providers and commissioners of healthcare. As part of the investment planning process, clinical radiologists have been prioritised with plans to increase training posts by 32 to 1,144 for 2016-17 recruitment.