Under IR(ME)R regulations, student radiographers and trainee assistant practitioners are not entitled as operators unless their employer can prove they are appropriately trained, new guidance suggests.
Published by the SoR, the document says an up-to-date training record for all student and assistant practitioner operators must be held and maintained by employers' relevant imaging or radiotherapy deparment. That the status of each individual as an employee or honorary employee must also be confirmed.
The Society of Radiographers was asked the IR(ME)R Inspector for England to issue the guidance on the entitlement of student radiographers and trainee assistant practitioners as operators under IR(ME)R in response to an apparent lack of clarity and consistency about whether the requirements to so designate students had been properly met and documented.
Once an employer has entitled a student or trainee as an operator, that employer assumes responsibility for ensuring that adequate and up-to-date local training of the entitled operator is delivered and recorded, and is consistent with the tasks the individual is entitled to carry out.
Student radiographers and trainee assistant practitioners who are not entitled as operators cannot act on their own and require direct supervision.
SoR Council approved the draft guidance document in principle at its January 2009 meeting but asked that a period of consultation with service manager and education leads takes place before its approval becomes substantive.
Council is keen to assess the impact of the guidance document and to know whether the problem raised by the IR(ME)R Inspectorate is wide-spread. It would also welcome views on whether further implementation guidance would be useful.
Please send your views and comments to SoR professional officer Maria Murray by 28 February 2009.
