“Making it work in the face of extreme adversity” - Exploring perceptions for the future of the imaging and oncology workforce using ‘soundbite’ interviews

Background

Public demand and scrutiny, an aging population, inefficient funding and the legacy of Covid-19 are just some of the challenges the United Kingdom's health service faces. In imaging and oncology, there has been an exponential growth in service need against a workforce which is struggling to recruit and retain. This project aims to explore what the current, and future, workforce perceive the main opportunities and solutions, threats and risks are.

Method

Very short structured ‘soundbite’ interviews were employed to capture brief opinions or ‘snippets’ of dialogue. Participants recruited at a large imaging and oncology congress were asked what they considered the most significant opportunity/solution and threat/risk related to the future workforce. Descriptive and content analysis was undertaken to provide evaluation of role, regions, and frequency of themes.

Results

88 ‘soundbite’ interviews were undertaken lasting between 30 s and 4 min in length. The most common themes relating to opportunities/solutions considered education and students, workforce development and skill mix, and the use of technology. The most common threats/risks were identified as a lack of support for the workforce, recruitment and retention, national strategic issues, and barriers to workforce development.

Conclusion

The current workforce perceives a greater number of threats/risks for the future than potential opportunities/solutions. In particular, burnout and staff attrition were the most frequent perceptions of risk, though role development was often highlighted as the biggest opportunity. Interestingly AI and technology were frequently considered both opportunity and threat.

Implications for practice

This study highlights that a lot needs to be done to support our future workforce and make best use of the potential opportunities and solutions.