Professional development
The RCT equivalence route to registration
Iain Threlkeld BEng(Hons), CEng, FIHEEM, MIPEM, head of Clinical Engineering at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, looks at the background to the establishment of the Register of Clinical Technologists, and describes a new ‘equivalence route’ to registration designed for experienced clinical technologists with a suitable degree-level qualification.
n 2000 the Voluntary Register of Clinical Technologists (VRCT) was set up as a collaboration of three professional bodies, The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), The Association of Renal Technologists (ART), and the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), formally the IEE. The aim of the VRCT was to bring together clinical technologists who met the required standards of competence, and to hold their names on a voluntary register, ready to transfer to a statutory register when the time came. Due to changes in government policy towards professional registration, the VRCT was not accepted as a statutory register, so remains voluntary.
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Clinical technologist roles are divided between physics and engineering specialisms and include – on the physics side – those working in nuclear medicine, radiation, and radiotherapy physics. On the engineering side clinical technologists work in renal, rehabilitation, radiation, and medical engineering. Both IPEM and ART are still involved in running the register, and in November 2013 IPEM and the Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM) signed a memorandum of understanding and IHEEM replaced IET as one of the professional bodies involved in running the VRCT. The word ‘voluntary’
Role of clinical technologists Clinical technologists are healthcare scientists who work in NHS hospitals, private healthcare, academic institutions, and the medical device industry. Clinical technology is concerned with the practical application of physics, engineering, and technology to clinical practice. These are applied to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of human disease, and maintaining and improving the quality of life.1
Testing of a CT scanner by taking dose measurements using what is known as a ‘phantom’.
was dropped from the registers’ name in 2014, as it was considered superfluous and a burden, and the register became the Register of Clinical Technologists (RCT).
Routes to registration
When the RCT was set up, it was accepted that there would be many experienced clinical technologists already in employment who had followed a wide variety of training and educational routes.
The RCT has always had clearly defined scopes of practice for
every role performed by clinical technologists
These technologists were admitted to the register through a process known as ‘grandfathering’. The grandfathering process was a way for applicants to demonstrate that they had a suitable academic qualification, as well as sufficient experience, to meet the required standards to ensure competence. All ‘grandfather’ applicants were required to submit details of their training and experience signed by either an existing member of the register, or a member of a professional body, and each was individually assessed. This ensured that a robust system of entry was in place, and indeed many existing technologists were unable to demonstrate they met the required standards without undergoing further training or study. Grandfathering was only ever intended as a short-term route to registration for those already in
Health Estate Journal 65September 2016
©IPEM
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