Response to Andy Burnham’s speech at the Labour Party Conference
IPEM welcomes the commitments set out by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in his speech at the Labour Party Conference to strengthen health and social care and establish the UK as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI). We welcome the opportunity to reiterate the vital role Healthcare Scientists play in delivering healthcare and driving innovation, and to call on the Government to ensure they are represented in national policy development, workforce planning, and healthcare redesign.
The Prime Minister outlined a vision for personalised care that begins in the home and recognised that a strong healthcare service depends on robust social care provision. Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering, as part of the wider Healthcare Science workforce, are key enablers of both. Delivering personalised, community-based care will depend on community diagnostics, remote monitoring, connected medical devices, and digitally enabled services, all of which rely on the expertise of Medical Physicists, Clinical Engineers and Clinical Technologists.
The Government must also recognise the essential contribution Healthcare Scientists make to existing services and the challenges facing the profession. Healthcare Science underpins around 80% of NHS patient pathways, with IPEM members supporting cancer diagnosis and treatment, developing and maintaining medical technologies, and leading research and innovation that improves patient care.
However, long-standing workforce shortages threaten the ability of healthcare services to continue delivering these vital functions. At a time of rapid technological advancement, rising patient demand, and expanding diagnostic and treatment pathways, workforce planning must explicitly include Healthcare Scientists and support the education, training, career pathways, and retention needed to meet future healthcare needs. Investment in technology and service transformation must be matched by investment in the specialist workforce needed to deliver it.
The development of AI in healthcare, particularly in imaging and radiotherapy, presents significant opportunities to improve patient care, strengthen health services, and position the UK as a global leader in innovation. Realising these benefits, however, will depend on having the workforce needed to implement them safely and effectively. There is already a critical shortage of Clinical Scientists and Clinical Engineers with the specialist expertise required to deploy AI in healthcare settings. Alongside investment in AI technologies, the Government must invest in the training and development of the workforce that will implement, evaluate, oversee, and use them, while promoting AI literacy and competence across the NHS.
As the Government develops new models of integrated care and pursues its ambition of becoming a global leader in AI, investment in the Healthcare Science workforce must remain a national priority. We will continue to work with the Government ensure that Medical Physicists and Clinical Engineers are recognised and supported.