Radiographer

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Service Delivery

•  Act as an Operator under the IR(ME)R Radiation Regulations and assess the clinical justification of referrals to ensure that the benefit to the patient outweighs the radiation risk associated with the 
  examination.  
• Act as patient and staff advocate minimising their exposure to radiation. 
•  Provide timely, efficient and courteous provision of radiographic services to the agreed standards of the department taking account of the patient/clients clinical, physical and cultural needs.  
• Carry out on-call duties without supervision.  
• Monitor and adjust work priorities in conjunction with other professionals to take into account changing demands on the diagnostic services due to emergencies or increased demand from A&E, particularly during out-of-hours duties.
•  Assess and treat own workload of patients/clients, also communicates work priorities, organising workload and encouraging collaboration in the respective work area.  
• Responsible for the safe use and maintenance of imaging equipment, reporting faults to senior staff or directly to the manufacturer.
• Participate in the departmental rota, being flexible in responding to service needs.  
• Be responsive to change management issues and understand the implications for the Radiology service.  
• Ensure all adverse incidents are reported in line with trust policies
• Participate in clinical audit to improve quality of service
• Participate in multiple site rotation as and when necessary 
                                                                                                                                         Communication
• Receive and welcome patients and staff to the relevant Radiology reception areas and deal with any enquiries in a kind and courteous manner.
• Communicates with the referrer any changes to referrals after assessing the clinical justification for an X-ray examination against IR(ME)R and local protocols.  
• Deal sensitively with patients or carers under emotional stress, including the terminally ill and bereaved.
• Communicate information relating to conditions and procedures to staff, patients and carers and ensure informed consent for examinations.  
• Communicate effectively on a daily basis with patients with communication difficulties and cognitive impairment.
• Anticipate and interpret customers’ needs, defining the level of customer care required on an individual basis.
• Communicate effectively with staff within and outside of the department to ensure the smooth operation of the service. Including liaison with ward staff.  
• Give factual information to patients, including children, regarding examinations and understand the necessary preparations. 
• Lead more junior radiographers and health care professionals in a defined work area, to assist them with diagnostic examinations and other procedures.
• Ensure the safety and well-being of patients, staff and visitors within the department.   
• Ensure patients receive timely and accurate information about their examination, and ensure urgent findings are communicated in the appropriate way to referrers (e.g. red-dot system).                                                                                                                                                                                                        Knowledge, training and Experience  
• Position patients accurately for each examination, adapting techniques in accordance with the 
  patient’s needs.  
• Comply with the requirements of Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts.  
• Demonstrate a problem-solving approach to issues arising at a local level, evaluating the need to refer problems to the line manager.
• Be accountable for own professional actions and working within codes of Practice and professional guidelines, consulting senior staff as and when necessary.  
• Act as a source of knowledge to be consulted by other professionals.
• Be responsible for ensuring the legal documentation on the Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Picture Archiving Communications System (PACS) associated with each completed patient episode.
• Ensure timely provision of images to referrers.
• Assist Radiologists in performing fluoroscopy studies.  
• Safely administer contrast media and other drugs in accordance with protocols as required. 
• Train in the utilisation of complex and specialised imaging equipment. 
• Train on advanced software on specialised radiological equipment requiring anatomical pathological and technical knowledge