Independent health recruitment agencies have been frozen out of the government’s £3.4m drive to boost the numbers of radiography staff working in the NHS.

The recruitment and retention strategy, which has been funded by the Department of Health HR Directorate, is being introduced to tackle the shortage of qualified and experienced staff in the profession.

It hopes to do this by raising the profile of radiographers and radiography; persuading young people to consider radiography as a career; and encouraging trained X-ray staff to return to the NHS. It also hopes to develop attractive career pathways for new and existing radiography workers.

Noelle Skivington, radiography workforce development lead for the London South West Health Authority, which is managing the strategy, said: “We believe that introducing and expanding on new roles will help with retention and so we are looking to introduce some advanced and consultant practitioners into radiography. We intend to do this by supporting financially the introduction of clinical learning facilitators to support advanced and consultant roles,” she added.

But independent recruitment agencies hoping to profit by offering up their services to the NHS are likely to be disappointed.

Skivington said only NHS Professionals would be used. “We work closely with NHS Professionals at a strategic level. We are not working with any other agencies,” she said.