New Report: Surging Demand and Diminishing Investment is Unravelling Hospital Radiology Services
12 August 2025
APEX, the union representing over 1500 Medical Imaging Technologists (MITs) and 350 sonographers, has today released a landmark report exposing the critical state of public radiology services in New Zealand.
The report, titled Broken Scanners, Exhausted Staff: Inside the Unravelling of HNZ Radiology Services, looks into how and why publicly delivered radiology services are deteriorating across the country, from the perspective of those working in those services.
Based on a national survey of its members and data obtained under Official Information Act requests, APEX found:
- 102,446 patients on radiology waiting lists nationwide, by March 2025.
- Over $100 million spent in the past year outsourcing radiology services to private providers.
- 44% of MITs working with broken, outdated, or unsafe equipment.
- More than half of all departments reporting inadequate MIT staffing and at least 79.6 MIT positions unfilled. Five departments – Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Auckland, Capital & Coast and Hutt – report their staffing approaching crisis levels.
“Radiology is a central pillar of our public health and hospital system. Medical imaging allows doctors to see with pinpoint accuracy how disease and trauma affect the human body,” said Dr Deborah Powell, APEX National Secretary. “But our report lays out candidly how public radiology services are being crushed. Understaffed and exhausted teams working with broken equipment are finding it impossible to provide safe and timely services as demand for medical imaging surges.”
“Our analysis shows a dangerous feedback loop where the spend on outsourcing is starving public services of investment in workforce and technology. Judicious use of outsourcing can be used to supplement public sector capacity. However an overreliance on expensive private outsourcing is not cost effective or sustainable long term. Investment in public radiology is our best option to improve productivity and meet the system’s health targets, whether they be on cancer care, surgical or ED wait times,” continued Dr Powell.
“The report contains a seven-point plan to rescue publicly delivered radiology, and we have invited Health New Zealand discuss this further with us. The plan includes lifting the hiring freeze for MITs, investing in equipment and workforce, and redirecting outsourcing money towards expanded hospital radiology services.”
“We hope the report’s publication leads to change and we look forward to working with decision-makers at all levels to remedy the issues we have identified,” concluded Dr Powell.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Dr. Deborah Powell
APEX National Secretary
Phone: 021 614 040
Email: secretary@apex.org.nz