Cancer doctor hiring freezes rise in nearly every region

Cancer centres in nearly every region of England reported significant rises in recruitment freezes to oncology posts over the past year, according to new figures shared with HSJ.

The Royal College of Radiologists’ president Stephen Harden warned that the growing constraints highlighted by the college’s research came at a time when cancer performance had stagnated – and that the NHS “desperately needed [more staff] to turn this round”.

An exclusive regional breakdown calculated by the RCR based on its annual oncology workforce census, and shared with HSJ, found every region apart from two reported rises in the number of centres implementing recruitment freezes for oncology posts in 2025.

The RCR’s Dr Harden said: “We completely get that we’re in a financially constrained environment but now is really not the time to be limiting recruitment to cancer posts, particularly around diagnosis and treatment.

“Extra staff are desperately needed to turn this thing around. Waiting a month for your scan results – and longer – is not really what we should be about”.

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Source: HSJ, 18 June 2026