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ISRRT_COVID-19_book

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Patient experience (a radiographer who had <strong>COVID</strong>-<strong>19</strong>)<br />

Deborah. A.L. Whiteside<br />

I am a Clinical Lead Radiographer in PET/CT who qualified in <strong>19</strong>87 and obtained a<br />

postgraduate qualification in Radionuclide Imaging in <strong>19</strong>92. I have worked in a variety of fields<br />

including Diagnostic Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and MRI. I currently work full time, 12-hour<br />

days plus extra days to cover staffing shortfalls, in a busy regional PET/CT Centre situated in<br />

the North West of England. The majority of our patients being urgent Oncology referrals, with<br />

some Non-Oncology 18Fl FDG scans together with Amyloid plaques and Tau Protein Brain<br />

Imaging for Dementia trial centres.<br />

With the emergence of the <strong>COVID</strong>-<strong>19</strong> virus, it was decided that due to my medical history of<br />

cancer treatment and rheumatoid autoimmune disease, requiring continuous<br />

immunosuppressant therapy, I should work from home and “shield”, to stay at home and<br />

isolate in order to prevent infection. This was a very upsetting time for me, as I do not take<br />

time off work for illness and despite my health issues; my sickness absence record was<br />

exemplary. Therefore, with reluctance, I set about revising and re writing the PET/CT Training<br />

and assessment scheme for the private healthcare provider I am employed by, along with<br />

numerous office-based projects at home for three long months. At first working from home<br />

was a novelty and not venturing outside my home environment I did feel a sense of security<br />

being totally isolated from the world outside.<br />

In June 2020 I could stand it no longer, I am a dedicated clinical Radiographer and needed to<br />

be “hands on”, accustomed to being on my feet all day and I was now being given tasks that<br />

were not even remotely relevant to my role, so I begged to go back to the PET/CT unit to<br />

recommence clinical work. Occupational Health agreed after risk assessments were<br />

completed, and I had been fit tested for high protection masks and full Personal Protective<br />

Equipment (PPE) was provided for all patient contact.<br />

I worked my full 40 hours per week in full PPE for a further five months, being extremely<br />

vigilant and taking every precaution to keep myself and others safe. I felt very “out of the loop<br />

89

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