Patient and staff safety in medical imaging: what can be done?

A wide variety of legislation and guidelines exist internationally to ensure that patient and staff safety in medical imaging is maintained. The systems for radiation protection for the 28 Member States of the EU were initially based on the requirements of Council Directive 96/29/Euratom i.e. European Basic Safety Standards (EU BSS). The more recent Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom revises these Standards and contains important changes to the legislation. In addition, a deadline of February 6, 2018 has been set whereby each member state must bring into force the laws and regulations necessary to comply with the new requirements.Free movement of health professionals within the European Union was established by Directive 2005/36 of the European Commission. This directive states that, EU countries should recognise professional qualifications from other member states. However, the profession of radiography does not have specific requirements regarding training and education, or identification of required competencies defined at European level. Current research highlights great variation in the different education frameworks and competencies acquired during training by radiographic staff across the EU. Further work is required to standardise these qualifications and ensure safe movement of radiographic staff across member states. As technology continues to advance, the practice of radiography is continually evolving and new staff roles are emerging across all departments to accommodate these changes. A clear standardised framework recognising the different roles/competencies of radiographic staff i.e. referrers, practitioners and operators across the EU is required to ensure safe autonomous practice is maintained