Minister Sends Positive Message for Engagement on MPCE Challenges

The new Minister of State for Health, Karin Smyth MP, has responded positively to IPEM, after our President, Dr Anna Barnes, wrote to her and the Secretary of State with a copy of our Manifesto for the Future of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering.

In her response, the Minister thanked IPEM for “the valuable insights you provided regarding the critical role that medical physicists, technologists and clinical and biomedical engineers play in diagnosing and treating illnesses, as well as your comprehensive overview of the challenges facing the field of medical physics and clinical engineering.”

She went onto say that the Government was committed to providing enough staff in the NHS “to be there for all of us, whenever we need it.”

Commenting on IPEM’s calls for the statutory regulation of Clinical Technologists and more investment in the life saving equipment that our members are responsible for every day, the Minister said these were “areas for consideration”. The Government has already committed to significant investment in scanner capacity and IPEM will continue to press Ministers on this.

Chris Watt, IPEM’s Head of Communications & Public Affairs said:

“The Minister’s positive tone is very welcome and we will be taking her up on her offer to engage with stakeholders such as IPEM to tackle the challenges faced by Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering in the interests of the professionals we represent and their patients.

We are continuing to influence policymakers across the UK on the actions that we outlined in IPEM’s Manifesto for the Future of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering.”