Smarter informatics could help retain women in radiology, says Rosenfield Health
As International Women’s Day approaches, radiology finds itself at a pivotal moment, says medical technology company Rosenfield Health. The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) 2023/24 census showed that women represented 42 per cent of the diagnostic consultant workforce. However, retention remains a hurdle and the RCR reports that the workforce remains undersupplied by 30 per cent, with pressure to meet demand leading to unprecedented levels of attrition.
“Retention is shaped in the day-to-day reality of clinical work, not in policy statements,” Rosenfield states. “For example, how manageable the workload is, how fragmented systems are and how much effort and time is spent on manual repetitive tasks. For NHS leadership, ‘inspiring inclusion’ must therefore transcend rhetoric. It must be manifested in the digital architecture of our departments. At Rosenfield Health, we contend that the path to a sustainable, inclusive workforce is paved with practical, pain-point-driven informatics.”
In conversations with female consultant radiologists across NHS trusts, one theme comes up repeatedly: it is not the complexity of the work that drives people away, it is the administrative load that follows them home. Rosenfield Health says the company offers a simple principle of enhancing what already works: “We do not replace PACS or disrupt established workflows. Instead, through vendor-neutral solutions such as BriX and iCode MDT, we remove unnecessary manual steps and information chasing.”
Rosenfield Health also automates radiology education workflows. Through iCode Teaching Files, educators can automatically anonymise and curate real clinical cases into regional teaching libraries.
Picture: access to training, regional collaboration and adoption of new technologies could help address the workforce gap.
Read this report on page18 of the February 2026 issue of RAD Magazine.
