As part of World Radiography Day 2023, Charlotte Smith, Service Lead and Enhanced Practitioner for Interventional Radiology and Fluoroscopy at Northern Care Alliance, shares her insight into a career in Interventional Radiology. Northern Care Alliance is a member of the GM Imaging Network.
What is your area of expertise?
As a service lead, I am responsible for the overall running of the department, including the implementation of new services, procurment of new equipment and business cases, ensuring patient treatment times, recruitment and retention, and ensuring service user’s best care.
I am also an enhanced practitioner and specialise in complex vascular access and nephrostomy exchanges under imaging guidance as a radiographer led service.
How did you develop skills in this area?
As a leader, I have attended in-house courses, but I was also able to participate in an Society of Radiography mentorship scheme for future leaders. This mentorship allowed me to work with senior leaders within Radiology across a range of areas which expanded my knowledge. Within my clinical training I recently completed a postgraduate certificate within Postgraduate Radiography and completed my e-portfolio with HEE in Advancing Practice. Clinical teaching has come from mentorship from consulting colleagues and building relationships across different clinical trusts.
Why did you choose a career in Radiology?
Radiographers although not well recognised within the NHS, will more than likely effect nearly every patient who passes through the hospital for diagnosis or treatment. With more technological advances and new treatment routes evolving, imaging more than ever has become imperative to care. Having the opportunity to work within this growing field where you can specialise in a range of areas helped me when choosing my career within Radiology.
What does a typical day involve?
A typical day will involve:
-Day to day running of the department, ensuring staff, equipment and patient safety
-Meetings surrounding service expansion, business cases and new procedures.
-Wellbeing and Mytime meetings with staff to assist with progression within the department
-Finance meetings
-Attendance at MDT or M&Ms
-Completion of AP work for patients to assist with discharge or treatment
-Participation in our out of hours on-call rota for interventional imaging
What's been your biggest inspiration?
This would have been helping to implement mechanical thrombectomy service for Greater Manchester to provide 24/7 care. As a service lead, managing this expansion, whilst participating within it, and seeing the difference that can be made has inspired me to keep driving for changes and enhancing the services that we offer.
How have you grown in your profession?
I have worked in most areas of Radiology in different areas across Greater Manchester.
As a band 5 I worked within plain film and rotated through fluoroscopy, where I further became interested in Interventional Imaging. I gained skills in peripheral intervention whilst working as a band 5.
As a band 6 I completed a rotational radiographer role, where I worked within Interventional, CT and MR imaging. This allowed me to enhance my skills in a range of areas and helped me decide on how I would like to progress my career.
I became a band 7 specialist radiographer and deputy lead at SCO, and from here have progressed into an 8A role as a service lead, whilst also completing enhanced practice.
What has been your biggest achievement so far?
Previously Interventional Radiology was poorly recruited to and was seen as a less desirable place to work. With showing that Radiographers can progress in their practice, building better shift systems and ensuring staff wellbeing is kept at the forefront, we have changed the way this is viewed. This means that we are better recruited to and have started to enhance the way Radiographers work, which in turn has decreased the pressure to Radiologists.
What advice would you give to someone looking for a career in Radiology?
Radiology has a wide range of specialities that you can progress into, try and explore these as you may find you connect with some specialities more than others.