12 NEWS SYNERGY NEWS DECEMBER 2013 www.sor.org


North West Breast Screening and Symptomatic Services Quality Control study day


In October, the North West Region of the NHS Breast Screening Programme held a regional study day for the unit QC radiographers from all breast screening units in the region. The event was held at Wythenshawe Hospital,


Manchester, and was organised and facilitated by the regional QA physics and radiographic team who felt that a further study day was needed to update programmes on the most recent information regarding QC testing for digital, MRI and


tomosynthesis equipment. An invitation was extended to all the symptomatic breast services in the region as the breast screening programme often repatriates women with screen detected abnormalities for surgical


treatment.


This was the third regional study day for the North West unit QC radiographers and once again, it proved to be very successful. The event served as a perfect opportunity for everyone from screening and symptomatic breast


services to meet together, form alliances and share their own experiences of quality control procedures. The amalgamation of these services was felt to be the way forward for learning and development in the future to enhance patient care in breast disease.


Blog: Radiography and the butterfly effect


Time for a bit of motivational speaking! No, not really, I just want to pose a question that I’ve asked myself numerous times over the years: “Did I make a difference today?” Happily the answer is very often ‘yes’, but only because I am not asking ‘Did I save the world today?’ I literally mean, did I do anything today that would not have happened if I had stayed at home? Sometimes it is as simple as answering a question from a patient. I know that someone else would have been there to answer the question if it wasn’t me, but the fact that I was ‘Johnny-on-the-spot’ and helped that person, at that moment in time, is enough for me to be my own Radiographer of the Day. I just made up that phrase for the purpose of this


blog – I’m not actually sad enough to think in those terms! But, throughout my career, the way I have judged myself is along those lines – did I make a difference, even if it was a small one?


A smile can be enough to put someone at ease, and that can be the difference between a positive experience and a negative one. If you study Chaos Theory (or watch Ashton Kutcher movies) you will have heard of the butterfly effect – a small initial stimulus which can start a chain of events that have enormous outcomes – the flutter of a butterfly’s wings can create a hurricane. We have heard a lot about the Francis Report, and sometimes it is difficult to see how these very large events impact on us as individuals. If you reverse the butterfly effect you can see how a large problem can start with small things – an omission here, and an overlook there... Enough of these result in a catastrophic lack of care. We can’t control the large events, but we can all control our own actions, and who knows, maybe that smile I gave a patient to help them along their radiotherapy journey was the flutter of a butterfly’s wing that’s going to save the world!


John Burton is the pre-treatment superintendent/ principal radiographer at the Edinburgh Cancer Centre. He is also SoR UK Council Member for Scotland.


“Did I make a difference today, even a small one?”


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