WAITING lists for diagnostic tests, including cancer scans, have doubled in 10 years to a record 1.6 million in England amid a  “staggering shortfall” of clinical radiologists.

The latest NHS England figures show nearly 500,000 patients are waiting for CT scans and MRIs alone.

More than 365,000 patients were waiting six weeks or more from referral for one of 15 key diagnostic tests at the end of May, with around 22 per cent waiting six weeks or longer for tests overall, compared with the NHS target of less than 1 per cent.