Clinical Engineers: Essential to Patient Safety and the Future of the NHS
Clinical Engineers play a critical yet often unseen role in delivering safe, effective patient care across the NHS. Every diagnostic test, surgical procedure and lifesaving intervention depends on medical technology functioning reliably and safely. Clinical Engineers make this possible, ensuring complex technologies are safe for clinical use and directly protecting patient outcomes.
They are responsible for the full lifecycle of medical devices and systems, from specification and procurement through to maintenance, calibration, risk management and decommissioning. As reliance on digital, connected and technology-enabled care grows, Clinical Engineers also enable innovation and transformation by ensuring new technologies are introduced safely and governed effectively across care pathways.
As an example, as patient monitoring moves onto shared clinical and IT networks, Clinical Engineers increasingly resolve issues that sit between biomedical technology and digital infrastructure. Incidents with network‑connected monitors have shown how a single switch configuration error can cause intermittent data loss or delayed alarms. Clinical Engineering teams routinely identify and correct these issues before they impact patient care.
Clinical Engineering is a safety-critical profession. When medical technology fails, care can be delayed or compromised, and patients may be placed at risk. Clinical Engineers provide essential assurance in high-risk environments such as theatres, critical care and emergency settings, where the margin for error is minimal.
At a time of sustained pressure across NHS services, the Clinical Engineering workforce is itself under strain. With around 3,000 scientific and technical staff, vacancy rates of approximately 6%, and widespread reports of insufficient staffing, capacity is already stretched. An ageing workforce and rising demand driven by the NHS 10-year plan further increase risk, making proper recognition, respect and support for Clinical Engineers essential.
There is also a growing need for Clinical Engineers to be involved at strategic decision‑making levels. Many technology‑related risks originate from early procurement, design or infrastructure choices. Having Clinical Engineering input at these stages helps prevent technical debt and safety hazards, ensuring new technologies are introduced with the right governance and clinical‑safety assurance from the outset.
Empowering Clinical Engineering across the NHS is central to delivering safe, sustainable, technology‑enabled care. National recognition and investment are critical to building the workforce, governance and system resilience needed for the next generation of NHS services.
IPEM’s Commitment to Supporting Clinical Engineering
IPEM is committed to strengthening support for the Clinical Engineering community and ensuring the profession is recognised as a strategic capability within the NHS. This includes championing the role of Clinical Engineers at a national level, building robust workforce intelligence to inform policy and investment decisions, and working with partners to improve professional recognition, career pathways and training opportunities.
Through its Clinical Engineering Special Interest Group, IPEM is supporting professional collaboration, sharing best practice, and providing a collective voice for Clinical Engineers across the UK. IPEM is also developing practical guidance and evidence to help NHS organisations strengthen governance, assurance and workforce planning, enabling Clinical Engineering expertise to be deployed where it adds the greatest value to patient care and system resilience.
Continued investment in Clinical Engineering is therefore a critical necessity. Without it, patient safety, service resilience and the NHS’s ability to safely adopt innovation are at risk.
John Boulter, Chair of IPEM’s Clinical Engineering Special Interest Group, says:
“Clinical Engineers underpin patient safety every day, often under intense pressure, IPEM is committed to supporting this community, strengthening professional recognition and ensuring their expertise is fully valued across the NHS.”
Gill Collinson, CEO of IPEM, adds:
“As healthcare becomes more technologically dependent, Clinical Engineering must be recognised and supported as a strategic capability. IPEM will continue to champion this workforce, providing leadership, evidence and professional support to help secure safe, high-quality care for patients now and in the future.”