Objective To have a comprehensive knowledge of the development status of nuclear medicine in medical institutions in Beijing so as to provide data for national authorities that they can use in allocating medical resources and formulating medical policies.

Methods In 2019, medical units in Beijing with departments related to nuclear medicine were surveyed via questionnaires. The questionnaires were distributed via email or on-site submission. The contents of the questionnaire included general information on medical institution, business setting, scale of installation of imaging equipment, staff information, diagnosis and treatment workload, information on license to use radiopharmaceuticals, and teaching and scientific research workload.

Results A total of 39 medical units were found to be engaged in nuclear medicine in Beijing, most of which were in tertiary hospitals (87.2%, 34/39). In these units, a total of 40 departments were related to nuclear medicine, one of which had an independent nuclear medicine department and an independent PET/CT center. The size of the entire nuclear medicine departments in Beijing was 35 000 m². These departments had 596 staff but few nuclear medicine physicists and radiochemists. Among the 40 departments, 30 (75.0%) provided outpatient service, 28 (70.0%) performed radionuclide therapy, 37 (92.5%) offered single photon imaging, and 16 (40.0%) conducted positron imaging. Collectively, these departments had 83 pieces of large-scale nuclear medicine imaging equipment, including 21 PET/CT machines. In 2019, these departments performed 232 838 imaging cases and 7760 therapy cases, of which 28 medical units administered radionuclide therapy. However, the number of conventional radionuclide imaging projects and radionuclide treatment projects that these departments collectively conducted were relatively few. All 40 departments had a license to use radiopharmaceuticals, of which 5 departments had a license to use class Ⅳ radiopharmaceuticals (12.5%). These departments had 12 standardized training bases for nuclear medicine residents in Beijing and 106 ongoing projects, 29 departments had teaching tasks.

Conclusions The nuclear medicine department system in Beijing has taken shape. Planning and management have achieved initial results, but the training of professional talents must be strengthened further. Moreover, the development and clinical transformation of innovative radiopharmaceuticals must be promoted and developed.