Shared Insourced Reporting Programme
PenRAD introduced a Shared Insourced Reporting Programme (SIRP) for the south-west peninsula to reduce the existing reliance on external suppliers to report radiology images and make savings.
The challenge
The shortage of radiology specialists in the NHS has led to the widespread use of private, outsourced reporting services to interpret scans.
Nationally around £450m is spent in this way and across the peninsula £5m. However, it is often NHS Radiologists from other regions or countries who carry out this service, with the outsourcing company taking a fee, increasing the overall cost.
Reporting turnaround times are variable and often fail to meet current national targets.
Our approach
SIRP works by connecting trusts directly with Radiologists employed in the peninsula who are willing to take on additional reporting work. This reduces the need for private outsourcing and reduces the cost by around 35%.
SIRP enables reporting of these scans by local clinicians for a fair rate, overseen by strong governance. This also improves patient care by ensuring cost-effective, timely access to diagnostic imaging results.
Shared Insourced Reporting is managed on behalf of the four trusts in the Devon and Cornwall Peninsula by the PenRAD Imaging Network.
Members of the scheme use a locally-developed online tool called Pledger to show their availability for the week. Work is allocated to them with priority given to their departmental reporting demand.
Any remaining capacity is then shared across all sites. This allows us to manage regional reporting demand appropriately whilst offering more resilience within sub-specialist areas.
Impact and benefits
Savings to date of circa £800k
Since launch in August 2024, SIRP has delivered over 58,000 reports with 67 reporters enrolled, including nearly 6,000 cross-site reports, processing over £2.1m in payments and realising almost £800k in savings.
The familiarity of local reporters has also led to higher quality reports and fewer re-reports.
The process is flexible, easy to use and highly efficient. It allows us to support the NHS in the peninsula to provide the best possible radiology service without paying a premium to the outsourcing companies.
Cornwall reporter
Next steps
To increase the uptake and potential savings, we are looking at several approaches. These include the development of an off-payroll model, extending the programme to Reporting Radiographers, and securing capacity from recently retired Radiologists.
A peninsula-wide network contract will be implemented for the remaining outsourcing activity to ensure the best value for money.