Academy will help put new focus on radiology
A multi-million-pound academy training future radiologists, radiographers and sonographers has officially opened today. Dr Phillip Wardle, consultant radiologist at Cwm Taf University Health Board and director of National Imaging Academy Wales, explains w
THE shortage of highlyskilled radiology staff in the UK is no secret. This is most acute with radiologists and sonographers and we’ve been battling with the issue for years.
Radiology departments play a crucial role for diagnosis of disease as part of a patient’s care and a huge number of patients rely on their services to detect and diagnose illness, including cancer and heart disease.
Put simply, diagnostics is at the centre of providing the best possible health service for patients, of which radiology and all diagnostic imaging is a huge part.
For many years in the UK, we have been in a privileged position with junior doctors wanting to train through our highly-regarded radiology training schemes and radiographers pursuing advanced practice in image interpretation.
Unfortunately, this has not kept pace with the need for more, with many radiology posts remaining vacant across Wales.
Coupled with the fact that a high percentage of the imaging workforce in Wales is retiring or are due to retire in the next five years, we have been creeping toward crisis point.
We have seen an opportunity to bridge this ever-increasing gap and work to increase the imaging workforce to help alleviate the issues facing NHS Wales, by making the move away from a traditional training programme to an academy model of teaching.
With the Radiology Academy model piloted in England during the mid-2000s, with excellent results, the move to establish one in Wales for the whole diagnostic imaging workforce has been a long time coming.
So why does the academy model help? Traditional radiologist training programmes are apprenticeship style and it is difficult to increase the number of training positions without reducing the training quality, as hospital capacity for training is full.
The academy model of radiologist training is split 50-50 between hospital sites and academy.
Therefore, the academy model allows us to increase the numbers of radiologists able to be trained at any one time, providing up to 50% of a radiologist’s training for interpretation of medical imaging in a dedicated environment with a consultant radiologist trainer.
The remaining time must be spent at hospital sites, but an academy allows us to increase the number of radiologist trainees able to be trained at the hospital.
These facilities are the same required to train advanced practice radiographers, enhancing and expanding on existing training wherever possible.
The National Imaging Academy Wales is a resource for everyone across the country.
Providing a modern, innovative, specialist training environment, the academy enhances the learning experience of trainees, in partnership with current training provision at hospital sites.
Trainees will have access to all NHS Wales patient images, allowing a greater depth of knowledge and experience to be gained at a single site.
Within its purpose-designed building in Pencoed, the academy boasts the latest technology, workstation training rooms, a simulation suite and a lecture theatre, providing a multi-professional training environment.
With consultant radiologists, radiographers, sonographers, medical physicists, healthcare scientists and other allied health professionals from across Wales providing seminars and supervision, trainees are set to benefit from a calm, undisturbed environment.
We are looking to capitalise on the knowledge and experience we have in Wales and bring trainees through the academy to build a more sustainable imaging workforce that will serve us well into the future.
National Imaging Academy Wales is already becoming a hub for innovation with collaborative research projects being hosted at the site.
Having sufficient workforce to interpret diagnostic imaging studies is vital for our patients’ care within our NHS and I’m delighted that NHS Wales has this new training facility that we can all be proud of.
The National Imaging Academy Wales was established with £3.4m of funding from the Welsh Government.
Situated at Pencoed Business Park, near Bridgend, the academy’s initial focus has been to increase the capacity for radiologist training, but the academy will pursue and offer advanced practice opportunities to healthcare professionals including radiographers and sonographers.