The number of breast cancer scans is likely to be reduced due to a lack of radiologists in the NHS.

In an attempt to overcome the staff shortage, hospitals in the county are training radiographers - workers who supervise screening sessions - to interpret mammograms.

More than 34,000 patients receive regular scans, making up 73.7 per cent of the women aged 50 to 64 entitled to check-ups.

Although Oxfordshire still screens more women than the UK average of 69.3 per cent, there are fears that the radiologist shortage could cause a drop in the number of women who have mammo- grams, which are X-rays of the breast.

At the moment, two radiologists are doing the work of three members of staff.

The Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, responsible for Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill and Radcliffe Infirmary, and The Horton, Banbury, is commissioned to carry out all the mammography in the county.

A spokesman for the breast cancer screening programme said: "At the moment, Oxfordshire has a good record for screening women for breast cancer.

"The trust is advertising nationally to try to recruit additional staff.

"It is also working to train radiographers to be able to interpret X-rays. One has completed this training and another is about to start.

"In the meantime, we are working to try to ensure that we can see as many people as possible while not cutting on the quality of our diagnosis and on our attention to detail."

In November, the Oxford Mail revealed the trust was also struggling to recruit radiographers and that a fifth of the 155 available posts were vacant.

Managers were enticing new graduates to join up by offering them a £1,000 bonus on appointment and another £1,000 after completing a year.

They have now managed to fill the empty positions, despite a turnover of nine per cent in the past 12 months.