Communication in imaging and therapy: have you got it right?

How you make your patient feel before, during or after their scan or procedure is vitally important and often the reputation of the healthcare professional, department rests upon it. In fact, a study using the Dutch healthcare patient assessment website found that communication and empathy were the focus of feedback in 36% of all positive reviews of radiologists and 30% of all negative reviews, and feedback related to humanness and caring represented 45% of all positive reviews and 49% of all negative reviews[1].

That’s why so many radiology managers are turning to the BIR video course on Effective communication with your patient in imaging and therapy, to ensure their teams are confident in their ability to communicate with every patient including transgender or gender diverse patients, children, people with claustrophobia, anxious people and those with autism, dementia and more. As Natalie Gartland, imaging services manager, Royal Brompton Hospital, says: “All staff would benefit from watching the sections on different patient groups…and this course is relevant to those starting out in the profession as well as those who have been practising for a longer time.”

The course is for radiographers, radiologists, physicists at all stages of their career, whether newly qualified or in need of a refresher. Just 90 minutes long, the course is easy to use, accessible and fun. Each person completes the course at a time to suit them and can stop and start the video, as they wish. As Helen Estall, MRI consultant radiographer, University Hospitals Leicester, put it: “I thought the course was easy to understand and covered the many different aspects of communication required by a radiographer.”

Amit Marks, radiology project manager bought a group licence for 140 members of staff working in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust working with the North East London (NEL) Imaging Academy. “We are looking at upskilling our imaging workforce across the region on their soft skills.  We were impressed at the course learning structure and felt this would be an excellent fit. The course will equip our staff to enable them to continue to provide the best service we can to our patients.”

The course is ideal for teams wanting to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in their workplace. Amy Owens, quality manager and DPO for Alliance Medical Ireland purchased a group licence for their team of 20 imaging staff as she aims to create a workplace that promotes equality, diversity and inclusion and a culture that values everyone free from bias and discrimination. “Ultimately this starts with our patients,” she explains, “We are embarking on training in lots of different services to ensure that we truly do give our patients equality in access to services.”

Other courses in the BIR video series include Radiation Safety; Dose: Practice and principles of optimisation and safety; PET–CT Essentials; MRI Essentials; Referring your patient for imaging: For GPs and medical doctors; and Requesting imaging safely: For nurses and AHPs.

Prices start from £19 + VAT per person for a group licence or £65.99 + VAT for an individual. Readers of RADMAG can get a 20% discount on the individual price by using the code VID23RAD at the checkout (expires June 30, 2023) book here: bir.org.uk/videocourses.

[1] R.M. Kwee, T.C. Kwee.Communication and empathy skills: essential requisites for patient-centered radiology care. Eur J Radiol, 2021;140, 109754.

This news story has been sponsored by the companies concerned and does not represent the views or opinions of RAD Magazine.