Increasing MRI capacity
Twelve NHS trusts have been allocated £66,000 to increase MRI capacity through role development and advanced practice. This is part of the MRI beacon project, the second phase of the National Radiography Recruitment and Retention project. The trusts that have received funding are:
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Royal West Sussex;
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Northern Lincolnshire and Goole;
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Calderdale and Huddersfield;
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South Tees Hospitals;
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Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells;
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Mid Essex Hospitals;
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St Mary’s;
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The Heart of England Foundation Trust;
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Taunton and Somerset;
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Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare;
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St George’s Healthcare.
Each trust has the challenging target of increasing workforce capacity by 20%. The increased capacity targets are based on work carried out at the Medway Maritime Hospital which increased capacity by 50% through role redesign and other Modernisation Agency principles.
The sites are working with higher education institutions, especially Canterbury Christchurch University College, to support the development of reporting skills for radiographers. Most of the trusts have identified radiographers to take on the new advanced roles, and radiologists to support them.
The funding will also be used to train assistant practitioners to take some of the pressure off radiographers working in MRI. All role development will be in line with agreed competences and will be closely monitored.
Accreditation is being developed with DoH organisation, Skills for Health. A scheme to ensure that competence is maintained is being developed in collaboration with the SoR and the RCR.
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