VALUES-BASED PRACTICE


‘no fuss’ examination others would prefer a slower paced examination which provides the opportunity to discuss their requirements with the radiographer. The introduction of patient centred outcome measures should go some way to help address this issue in England22


.


WHAT HAPPENS IN PRACTICE? Diagnostic radiographers appear to feel under pressure to get the work done in the time available, and they appear to be constantly weighing this up against the care and attention that they could provide for their patients. There is an increasing demand on the imaging service within the NHS. Booth and Manning23


found


that time pressures have an impact on the way in which diagnostic radiographers interact with patients. They studied radiographer – patient interactions using transactional analysis. The majority of interactions were practitioner-centred with the radiographer taking control in the way that they spoke to the patient. ‘Radiographers, who are working in fast-paced/


short-staffed settings that place an ever increasing emphasis on processing as many patients in as shortest time possible, have begun to deal with patients in what they perceive to be the most efficient manner’23 This allows the radiographer to manage their time


suggests that when (p280).


more effectively. This can be achieved by the use of closed questions, focusing on the technical aspects and giving verbal commands. Booth24


departments are busy, speed and efficiency appear to be more important than good communication skills. Although this study was conducted in 2006, before computed and digital radiography were commonplace, this principles of speed and efficiency still ring true.


CONCLUSION It is hard to provide a clear picture of the quality of service we provide to patients. This is because we do not know what each patient considers a quality experience to be. Similarly, it is not clear where this might be measured within the current wealth of audit tools available. We are currently experiencing a rising demand for radiology services and are striving to meet the need to reduce waiting times with extended 24/7 working, and provide a speedy diagnosis or treatment but this should not be at the expense of the quality of the imaging/treatment process. Does taking time to ask the patient about their values really have a significant impact upon the examination/treatment length? We can conclude that we care about the quality of


the service we provide and that we frequently measure the elements we perceive to indicate quality, but it is clear that this is not all encompassing. We can also recognise that the definition of ‘quality’ is subjective and that we have no clear idea of what patients value in an imaging examination/treatment. Until we understand what patients require, it may not be possible to address their needs and research should be undertaken in this area to ensure we have a clear understanding of what patients value in radiography procedures. We might also want to consider: how long does being ‘respectful’ really take?


16 HOW TO USE THIS ARTICLE FOR CPD


• What do you think about values-based practice and the two examples (Mrs Jones’ knee and Mrs Smith’s chest radiograph)?


• Can you think of some good examples of values-based practice in your own area of work?


• Can you think of some poor examples and perhaps where improvements can be made?


ABOUT THE AUTHORS Dr Ruth M Strudwick DProf MSc BSc(Hons) CTCert PGCE, Associate Professor, Academic Director: Radiography, Department of Health Sciences.


Dr Ann Newton-Hughes, DProf, MSc, PGCE, DMU, DCRR, Programme leader NAAASP Programme, Lecturer, University of Salford.


REFERENCES http://www.sor.org//learning/library- publications/itp


This article has been prepared following local guidance relating to the use of patient data and medical images.


To comment on this article, please write to editorial@itpmagazine.co.uk


QA Code: C341ACB2


JUNE 2017


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