isrrt Newsletter Volume 46. No.1 - 2010

news news from
United Kingdom
Society of Radiographers
1920-2010
2010 is the 90th Anniversary of
the Society of Radiographers. At
the centre of our celebrations will
be a presentation of Gold Medals
in recognition of exceptional
contributions to Radiography. This
will take place at our Presidential
Inauguration in July.
Muriel Chesney
Radiographers from across the UK and from around the
world have been paying tribute to Muriel Chesney who died
in February at the age of 89 years. Together with her twin
sister, Noreen, Muriel wrote some of the most influential,
popular and widely distributed text books on radiography.
She was prominent in the SoR and in the ISRRT and held
in great affection by all who knew her through her work in
clinical radiography and education.
successful event with over 200 delegates attending to share
their research and experiences and gain insight into some
of the latest thinking in radiotherapy and cancer care. SoR’s
president-elect Sandie Mathers opened the weekend by paying
tribute to the radiotherapy community and highlighting the
work that is being carried out by therapeutic radiographers to
influence the national development of radiotherapy services.
CPD Audit
As mentioned in the last ISRRT newsletter, the statutory
regulator for radiography in the UK, the Health Professions
Council (HPC) has recently completed their first audit of
CPD activity amongst radiographers. On registration, all
radiographers commit to regular CPD and it is a condition
of remaining on the register that continuous development
activities are undertaken and the outcomes recorded. The
audit set out to study the extent to which radiographers are
maintaining this commitment. Early results indicate a good
level of compliance. The use of the SoR on-line personal
manager, CPDNow increased during the period leading up
to the audit, indicating its value to members.
Molybdenum Shortage
Nuclear medicine teams across the UK have risen to
the challenges posed by the unprecedented international
shortage of isotope supply over recent months. Innovative
scheduling, extended day working and case prioritisation
have been used to ensure that patient services have been
maintained.
The efforts of all Nuclear Medicine staff have been
recognized at national level, with a letter of thanks
from the Department of Health in England. There has
been outstanding commitment to patients and to services.
They have demonstrated that process redesign applied
with genuine commitment to excellent services produces
extraordinary results.
European Congress of Radiology
SoR attended this meeting in Vienna with a small team
of staff and Council. As usual we were busy answering
questions about working as a radiographer in the UK. This
year we also noticed a growing number of enquiries about
radiographer reporting of mammography images. In the
UK, the national Breast Screening Service relies heavily on
multidisciplinary working, including advanced radiography
practitioners taking part in reporting. It seems that other
European countries may be looking to build service
capacity through developing the practice of radiographers.
The EFRS have been invited to take a central role in
organising the radiography elements of the programme at
future congresses.
SoR Radiotherapy Conference
Our annual conference for radiotherapy radiographers took
place in Birmingham at the end of January. This was a very
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