Imaging & Oncology - Society of Radiographers

and development of staff and therefore has learners at all levels and stages
of progress among its professional groups.
It will be argued that the evidence from the Improving Retention Project 14
suggests that the culture in relation to learning support and development
of radiographic students and staff is not acceptable and requires significant
improvement.
Radiotherapy centre policies and procedures
The audit tool comprised 31 statements in three categories; organisational
policies and procedures, relationships with HEI(s) and radiotherapy centre
practices. It used a four point Likert scale for responses: strongly agree,
agree, disagree, strongly disagree. The Survey Monkey software allocated
a score of 1 for strongly agree, 2 for agree, 3 for disagree and 4 for strongly
disagree. In the summary of responses, each statement was awarded
an average score. Therefore, an average Likert rating of > 2.0 implies a
tendency to disagree. For each standard, respondents were asked to make a
comment if desired and to state whether evidence for the response could be
provided if requested.
The Organisational Policies and Procedures category comprised five
statements relating to the deployment and management of students in
placement and their visibility in radiotherapy centre policies and plans.
The mean average score for this section of the audit was 2.01, with a
range of 1.92-2.46 and the category also demonstrated a lack of available
evidence ranging from 38% to 74%. The dissonance between agreement
and evidence in this part of the audit tool was explored during site visits and
it became apparent that the mean average score should, in fact, be higher
since some RSMs had agreed that policies were in place within the audit
tool but, when questioned, stated that they were not written policies.
“the profession seems
to have little insight
into the value of
theory, knowledge and
skills in learning and
assessment”
It is concluded that the audit demonstrates a lack of written policies about
the numbers and deployment of students on placement and, with regard to
the ways in which students may expect to be treated, they are generally not
identified specifically, but are viewed as being covered by local Trust policies,
especially in regard to equality and diversity. This lack of visibility in policies
and procedures, together with the lack of policies to manage deployment
and placement overcrowding, suggests that there is little recognition of the
specific needs of students as a group. It can be inferred that they are not
regarded as significant within the overall culture of the radiotherapy centre.
The lack of visibility impacts negatively on students’ sense of security,
belonging and significance to the work of the radiotherapy centre.
{ 8 } IMAGING & ONCOLOGY 2013