Pregnant women and cancer patients are facing delays having vital ultrasound scans due to a shortage of staff which is risking lives, experts say. NHS sonographers, who carry out scans at 12 and 20 weeks of pregnancy and also help diagnose cancers, warn that one in four job posts are vacant in England with even greater shortages in the north west and south east of England. The Society of Radiographers, which represents sonographers, says demand for ultrasound has increased in healthcare but