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 />
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