Information for patients

On visiting a diagnostic imaging department for diagnostic procedure or a radiotherapy department for radiotherapy treatment you will come across a range of staff who are there to help you and provide the quality of service that you need. In both these departments though you will be seen by a radiographer.

There are two sorts of radiographer:

Diagnostic radiographers employ a range of techniques to produce high quality images to diagnose an injury or disease. They are responsible for providing safe and accurate imaging examinations and often also the resultant report.

The identification and and monitoring of diseases, skeletal and soft tissue abnormalities and trauma are the major focus of diagnostic radiography.

Significantly, radiographers provide this service throughout the 24 hour day, often working alone or in interprofessional care teams.

They use a range of techniques including:

• X-rays - used to look through tissue to examine bones, cavities and foreign objects. May be used with contrast agents to provide a live motion image, e.g. fluoroscopy to image the digestive system; or angiography to investigate blood vessels.

• CT (computed tomography) - provides cross-sectional views (slices) of the body;

• Nuclear medicine - uses radioactive tracers which can be administered to examine how the body and organs function, for example the kidneys or heart. Certain radioisotopes can also be administered to treat particular cancers eg thyroid cancer;

Techniques that do not use x-radiation are

• Ultrasound - uses high frequency sound. This technique is increasingly used in obstetrics, including monitoring throughout pregnancy, gynaecology, abdominal, paediatrics, cardiac, vascular and musculo-skeletal;

• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) - builds a 2-D or 3-D map of different tissues within the body;

For more information on the differences between the different types of scans click here PDF

Theraputic radiographers play a vital role in the treatment of cancer. They are also responsible as the only health professionals qualified to plan and deliver radiotherapy.

Radiotherapy is used either on its own or in combination with surgery and/or chemotherapy. Therapy radiographers manage the patient pathway through the many radiotherapy processes, as outlined below, providing care and support for patients throughout their radiotherapy treatment.

Therapeutic radiographers are trained in all the many aspects of radiotherapy including:

• Simulation which uses x-ray fluoroscopy machines to target the area to be treated. CT (computed tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) simulation produces scans to be used for the planning of a course of radiotherapy. A 3D plan of the dose distribution across the area to be treated can be produced by using computer planning.

• Mould room - radiographers in the mould room plan the treatment of and produce devices to help those receiving radiotherapy to the head or neck;

• External beam treatment uses ionising radiation, such as high-energy x-rays, the radiographer delivers accurate doses of radiation to the tumour;

• Brachytherapy - the use of small radioactive sources placed on or in tumours to treat with a high dose while avoiding normal tissues;

• On treatment review - radiographers regularly assess patients while they are undergoing radiotherapy, prescribing drugs to counteract side effects where necessary or referring them on to other health professionals if needed.

Therapeutic radiographers are responsible for providing safe and accurate high energy radiation treatments to individual patients predominantly with cancer. They are also responsible for patients’ physical and psychosocial well-being prior to, during and following radiotherapy. They work with patients to enable them to make informed decisions about treatment and support them through treatment.

For more information on the differences between the different types of scans click here PDF

Patient information available
Patient Information Leaflets may be available from the hospital you are going to for your diagnostic procedure or radiotherapy treatment so it is worth asking what they can provide in advance.

Helpful advice for young patients and their parents/guardians (A&E version) PDF
Helpful advice for young patients and their parents/guardians (Inpatient version) PDF

The Royal College of Radiologists have patient information available on their website which has been produced by the College's two Patients' Liaison Groups. Leaflets exist on interventional radiology, diagnostic radiology and oncology procedures. The RCR welcomes the use of the leaflets by imaging and radiotherapy departments, see link: http://www.rcr.ac.uk/content.aspx?PageID=323

NOTE TO SERVICE MANAGERS IN ONCOLOGY AND IMAGING: do you have patient information leaflets that you are prepared to share with colleagues? If so please sent them electronically, or a link to the relevant website to Christina Freeman christinaf@sor.org so that we can provide a sharing good practice section to improve patient services.

Radiation Protection
Protecting the patient, public and others is an integral part of the role of the radiographer and safety is embedded within all training programmes. Information on radiation can be downloaded from the website of the Health Protection Agency.
The guidance X-rays: How safe are they? Is available at http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947388410

Online information
The following websites have useful information for patients:

Factsheets from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

The Royal College of Radiologists

Patient UK

NHS direct

An American website radiologyinfo.org gives a comprehensive library of patient information leaflets which are, on the whole, excellent. The website is reviewed and maintained by the Radiological Society of North America and the American College of Radiology. There are some differences between techniques in UK and USA but there are a lot of similarities and visitors are advised to use the patient information leaflets but with some caution.

Visit a virtual department
The Royal College of Radiologists hosts a virtual department website. The site presents an illustrated virtual hospital designed to present clear information for patients using clinical oncology (cancer treatment) and clinical radiology (imaging) departments.

Although individual hospitals provide details about different departments and the way in which those departments work, the Royal College of Radiologists felt that there remained a need to address some of the fears that are associated with a visit to the hospital. This was particularly the case when dealing with cancer and also when dealing with x-rays.

In this virtual hospital you will find two departments. The department of clinical oncology, where much of the treatment of cancer takes place and the department of clinical radiology, where x-rays and scans are performed in the process of diagnosis of a wide variety of different conditions.

Each department has a number of different rooms reflecting hospital departments in real life. Hopefully by visiting the departments you will discover what to expect when you visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment. The virtual departments are interactive with descriptions of the equipment and of the people that you are likely to meet. We plan to include the experiences of real patients so that you can learn from others what you can expect from your visit.

A step by step guide to radiotherapy

This guide provides an overview of the entire process of radiotherapy in simple terms. Starting with what radiotherapy actually is and how important it is in the treatment of cancer, to the processes and personnel needed to provide the service.