The report was produced by APEX which is the union representing more than 1500 Medical Imaging Technologists and 350 sonographers. Photo: 123RF
A new report has slammed the state of the country's hospital radiology services saying inadequate staff numbers and a lack of investment is 'unravelling' the sector.
The report from APEX - the union representing more than 1500 Medical Imaging Technologists (MIT) and 350 sonographers - showed 102,446 patients on radiology waiting lists nationwide (as of March 2025) with over half of the country's departments reporting inadequate staffing levels.
The report based on a national survey of APEX members and data obtained through Official Information Act requests said more than 44 percent of MIT staff surveyed said they were working with broken, outdated, or unsafe equipment.
APEX national secretary Dr Deborah Powell told RNZ the report outlined how deeply the sector "had fallen into disarray".
"Understaffed and exhausted teams, working with broken equipment are finding it impossible to provide safe and timely services as demand for medical imaging surges," Powell said.
She said waiting lists were growing "across the board" - even for people with conditions requiring urgent attention.
"In Auckland... acute or urgent scans people are on the waiting list - which is pretty much unheard of really. If you're acute or urgent you get straight in but we're now seeing a waiting list growing for those sorts of patients," Powell said.
She said the revelation the health system had spent over $100 million outsourcing radiology services to private providers in the last year was at the core of the problem.
"It seems to be easier to pay the cost of outsourcing than get our staffing and machinery fixed in-house. If that money had been reinvested in sufficient staff and sufficient equipment then we believe we would've achieved far more than that and in a far more cost effective way," Powell said.
Five hospitals - Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, Capital & Coast and Hutt - reported MIT staffing level as approaching crisis point.
"Our people are exhausted, they're burnt out. Patients are not getting the service they want. They're getting frustrated [and] sometimes they take it out on staff. So we are seeing our people leaving the public sector and going and working for the private sector. That's a double whammy.
"We are getting to the point where our guys are just so tired they can't keep doing this - the risk of mistakes goes up - and the only option is to outsource which in actual fact exacerbates our problem," Powell said.
She said Te Whatu Ora needed to lift the current hiring freeze, implement a national plan for the replacement of technology and redirect funding diverted to outsourcing back into the public system.
'We acknowledge there are challenges'
Health New Zealand said it recognised that access to timely and effective radiology services was critical to providing high quality care, reducing waiting times for treatment and improving outcomes for patients.
Spokesperson Rachel Haggerty said Te Whatu Ora funded or delivered 2.5 million radiology events each year - the majority of which were delivered in house by Health NZ.
"We acknowledge there are challenges in delivering the timely radiology patients deserve," Haggerty said.
"We are continuing to work with the sector and our workforce to address issues of increasing demand and the impact this has on radiology services."
She said they were committed to growing their workforce of specialist imaging technologists and radiographers, and were making progress.
"From September 2024 to March 2025 the vacancy rate across our radiology services nationally fell by 50 FTE."
Haggerty said the challenges faced were not unique to New Zealand, and global workforce shortages and rapid developments in technology means more and more could be done for patients.
"Demand for Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans are currently increasing at 6.5 percent per annum," she said.
She said in partnership with the Radiology National Clinical Network, they had developed a range of initiatives to help address the continued growing demand and ensure radiology services in New Zealand can be sustainable long term.
"Initiatives include digital stabilisation, demand management, productivity improvements, use of AI, workforce development, targeted increases in in-house capacity and a strategic approach to outsourcing with the private sector."
Haggerty said the Radiology National Clinical Network had this year established a Medical Imaging Technologists (MIT) Workforce Group from across the country to discuss workforce issues and identify initiatives to better support the workforce and help us to work smarter.
"Long term we have a plan to address workforce shortages which includes growing training pathways for specialist imaging technologists and radiographers," she said.
She said the annual $30 million investment from government in the Community Referred Radiology service would also ensure greater access to diagnostic radiology for primary care and they were working with the sector to support services and ensure they were sustainable.
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