Radiographer CT head reporting

Implementing a radiographer CT head reporting service in a large teaching trust

Published on September 1, 2023

The first evidence of radiographer reporting of computed tomography (CT) head examinations is from 19961. This was a proof of concept paper, with results stating the possibility that certain experienced and appropriately trained CT radiographers could report routine CT head scans merited further evaluation. In 2012, there were 17 sites with CT head reporting radiographers2 and, in 2020, a paper by Lockwood3 had responses from 54 CT head reporting radiographers. There has been a clear trajectory of change in attitude to the radiographer reporting role over the past 20 years4.

More than 500,000 patients have a CT scan each month, increasing by more than 5% each year5, and approximately 50% of out-of-hours CT reporting is outsourced6. Increases in requests both locally and nationally and the requirement for urgent 30-minute to one-hour CT head report turnaround...

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