Radiology body president, Dr Ron Shnier, urges action on breast imaging shortage
The president of Australia’s leading radiology body urges action to address critical shortage of diagnostic breast imaging radiologists in regional areas.
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The leading body representing private radiology practices across Australia says critical delays in diagnostic breast imaging across Far North Queensland must be resolved urgently.
Wait times blew out to four months when a private provider “temporarily” suspended its diagnostic breast screening services in November 2024.
It’s understood the clinic could not find a permanent radiologist who sub-specialises in women’s imaging to keep the service running.
Australian Diagnostic Imaging Association (ADIA) president Dr Ron Shnier said the situation in Cairns was a symptom of a wider issue.
“Unfortunately, we’re not at all surprised by delays to breast imaging in Cairns,” he said.
ADIA advocates for the interests of the diagnostic imaging sector including services such as X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, and breast imaging.
Dr Shnier says the delays are due to a lack of specialists trained in breast imaging, a shortage which is exacerbated by underfunding of these services by Medicare.
“This is compounded by the fact that breast imaging services are underfunded by Medicare, meaning radiology practices are already struggling to make these services viable,” Dr Shnier said.
According to the ADIA president while all of Australia is experiencing a critical shortage of radiologists, regions were being hit harder.
“This is being felt acutely by regional communities and in particular sub-specialties, such as breast imaging,” he said.
“Breast imaging must be performed with a radiologist at the practice who has sub-specialist breast imaging training, and we simply don’t have enough of these.”
As the peak body which represents private radiology practices across Australia, Dr Shnier said its role was to advocate strongly for long-term, systemic fixes.
“Fixes that ultimately help build a sustainable radiologist workforce,” he said.
“Australia needs to be training more radiologists, and we need to make it easier for appropriately qualified and experienced overseas radiologists to work here.”
But the ADIA president also said the federal government had made it easier for radiologists from countries with similar qualifications to work in Australia.
“This change is targeted at areas of workforce shortage in regional communities like Cairns,” he said.
Dr Shnier said this would help radiology providers bring in experts they need to care for patients in places where there’s a lack of staff.
“It’s a really important step to enable radiology providers to get the specialists they need to provide for their patients.”
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler said women in regional Australia face health challenges due to distance and remote locations.
“We know women living in regional Australia face greater health challenges because of the tyranny of distance,” he said.
“This is why I have requested my department to meet with the Queensland Department of Health to discuss a way forward on this matter.”
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Originally published as Radiology body president, Dr Ron Shnier, urges action on breast imaging shortage
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