The unrecognised profession with a national shortage (HSJ, 8 July 2026)

Summary

Sonographers have been on the UK’s national Shortage Occupation List for more than 10 years. The government has repeatedly acknowledged that the NHS does not have enough of them, that recruitment is difficult, and that the workforce is essential to diagnostic pathways. Yet despite this longstanding national shortage, sonography remains one of the few clinical workforces in the NHS that is not recognised as a profession in its own right.

This contradiction is more than a workforce anomaly. It is a governance gap with implications for patient safety, legal accountability, and the credibility of the UK’s diagnostic strategy, writes Kalpana Lakhani in this HSJ article.