As restrictions are relaxed, a key focus for hospitals will be the record lists of patients awaiting elective operations and scans. The most gloomy estimates suggest that these could take years to clear.
This backlog is likely to boost demand for Medica Group’s services. The supplier of teleradiology, which allows radiologists to view images remotely, steps in when the NHS can’t keep up with demand, which is an increasing problem.
Demand for radiologists in the UK is growing by between 5 and 6 per cent a year, but there is no spare capacity in the NHS. That’s where Medica comes in, offering teleradiology to hospitals that outsource about 20 per cent of their cases — a figure that has doubled over the past five years.