16 NEWS SYNERGY NEWS FEBRUARY 2014 www.sor.org Mission


of) my mammography knowledge. There was a mixed response, and in some cases no response at all, so I turned to the SoR for advice. I was warned that it


would be hard to find a willing department but I was encouraged not to give up. During my search I spoke to the superintendents of two NHS imaging departments, neither of whom felt able to take on a returning radiographer, despite the fact that I would only have an honorary contract for the duration of my updating. I felt quite despondent but just as I was on the point of giving up, I was offered two honorary contracts, both at NHS breast screening units. I then embarked on


Laura Johnston DCR(R) is a senior mammographer at Milton Keynes NHS Trust Hospital, having returned to practice after a six year career break. Here she describes the challenges she faced on her journey back to radiography... Before taking a career break (to look after my daughter who is now seven years old), I was employed in a busy NHS breast screening unit and it has been 16 years since I practised general radiography.


I knew I wanted to


return to practice but was unaware of how difficult the process would be. For the past 10 years, there have been no ‘return to practice’ courses for radiographers and it is not straightforward for imaging departments to take on prospective returners. So my first challenge was to persuade someone to let me into their department... I wrote to both breast screening and main x-ray/ imaging departments as I was keen to update my general radiography as well as (or if necessary instead


my second challenge – to fulfill the fairly stiff HCPC requirements. For professionals who have not practised for over five years, the HCPC requires at least 60 days (one day equalling seven hours) of a combination of supervised clinical work, private study and formal study. (If you have not been registered for two to five years the requirement is 30 days in total.) Everything must be done


under your own steam with the help of some guidance notes from the HCPC and the SoR. Although I had been accepted as an honorary contract mammographer, the NHS Trust was in no way my employer and could not


pay me or refund any travel costs. Therefore, I decided to work around school hours which meant that it took me about four months to complete my 60 days. As long as your private study (from books, journals, web-sites, e-learning etc) is no more than half the updating period it doesn’t matter how you combine the work. In reality it would be more or less impossible to do 30 or more days of private study as that would equate to 210 hours of reading! The formal study is not as difficult as it might sound – mine comprised multidisciplinary meetings, departmental visits and in- house (ie, free) mandatory training courses. My clinical training was supervised at all times by whichever radiographer was free and I also arranged to spend time in the CT, MRI, general ultrasound and out-patient x-ray departments. I found that I quickly remembered my positioning techniques and the digital equipment did not pose any problems for me. Obviously I was not as up to speed with the technical and computer side of things but it did not take me long to catch up. I never felt that I was holding things up for my colleagues, in fact, they seemed to enjoy watching my methods of working and positioning the women in the breast care unit. It also gave them a break as they just had to watch whilst I


did the work! Staff in the department


were open and keen to help me from the start. I was fortunate to have the support and guidance of the superintendent who had also returned to radiography after an eight year gap and another mammographer who had returned to radiography in 2004 when there were still return to practice courses (she is a representative for returners at the SoR). I would like to encourage more imaging managers/ superintendents to welcome returners into their departments. There are no financial implications if an honorary contract is given and returning radiographers are not students who need to be trained up from the start. Many, if not all, are likely to be experienced and mature, professional people who may actually benefit the department by their presence. I am now employed by the same NHS Trust that gave me the chance to update my knowledge and skills and thus be reinstated to the HCPC’s register. It was hard work – 60 days is a long time and you need to be committed and enthusiastic. However I know it was worth it! I feel extremely lucky to have succeeded in both reregistering and securing a rewarding and enjoyable job which suits my needs as a mum.


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