Breast imaging’s widening gap: why specialist input is getting harder to secure at the tumour board

Mammography, breast ultrasound and MRI results shape treatment decisions in almost every breast cancer case. Fittingly, this comes up during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but the pressure on breast imaging teams doesn’t ease once October ends. Breast radiology has one of the highest attrition rates of any imaging subspecialty, and regional tumour boards need consistent specialist input at every site, on time. The barrier is rarely clinical importance. It’s meeting logistics.

A widening distance between breast imaging and the tumour board

The RCR’s 2024 workforce census found that, excluding general radiologists, breast radiology has one of the highest forecast retirement rates of any subspecialty at 22% within five years, with average annual attrition running at 4.8%, against 3.8% across all special interests. NHS trusts and health boards spent a record £325 million in 2024 on insourcing and outsourcing, a 16% rise on 2023, with the RCR forecasting this could reach £547 million within five years. For the first time, no UK radiology department met its reporting requirements within contracted hours. When breast imaging sits apart from a patient’s wider history, the specialist best placed to interpret it is often the one least able to join the discussion, deferring decisions and stalling cancer pathways. 

What effective regional MDT support needs

Vendor-neutral integration through Rosenfield Health’s MDT radiology software that pulls imaging and prior screening rounds into one view, regardless of source PACS, is a good starting point. Add a single patient timeline, real-time remote collaboration and automated scheduling so breast imaging input doesn’t fall off the agenda.

Rosenfield Health’s iCode MDT platform is built around exactly this need, giving breast radiologists a way to review imaging alongside a patient’s history and join tumour board discussions without travelling to the meeting.

Rosenfield Health and iCode MDT’s role in breast cancer detection and diagnosis

iCode MDT doesn’t replace a radiologist’s or radiographer’s clinical judgement in spotting or interpreting a lesion. Its role sits just after that: closing the gap between detection and diagnosis, so a mammogram, ultrasound or MRI finding reaches the right specialist, in the right meeting, in time to shape a treatment decision.

The path forward: giving breast imaging a permanent seat at the table

Regional cancer teams have the expertise to make well-informed decisions. What’s often missing is a shared platform that makes joining an MDT meeting as simple as logging in. When breast imaging input is built into the meeting rather than bolted on, tumour boards make faster, better-informed decisions.

iCode MDT is part of the Rosenfield product family, a vendor-neutral platform built to run regional MDT and tumour board meetings. By consolidating imaging, patient timelines and clinical history into one interface, iCode MDT ensures breast imaging expertise reaches every tumour board discussion, regardless of the site at which the specialist is based.

Rosenfield Health is a UK-based radiology informatics company specialising in imaging intelligence and care delivery solutions for NHS trusts.

This news story has been sponsored by the companies concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.