Breast screening services are being reminded to consult advice about the care and maintenance of mammography x-ray equipment and trailers which has not been used during the pandemic.
The National Co-ordinating Centre for the Physics of Mammography Advice have reviewed guidance for technology used only periodically, or which has stopped being used altogether for a period of time.
The information is to support services to ensure that the reintroduction of equipment in the clinical environment is safe and effective.
The content includes advice on how x-ray equipment should be stored when not used for months, and what action is required before restarting screening.
A plan to restart services will depend on the size and location of the screening service and make and age of equipment. It must take into consideration the safety of staff and clients, equipment and the stresses on workloads of the screening and physics services, as well as service companies.
Each supplier has provided advice on the storage and restarting of their equipment, and this can be found in Appendix 2 of the document.