Radiography staff at Ninewells Hospital had the opportunity to showcase their services as NHS Tayside welcomed Chief Allied Health Professions (AHP) Officer, Carolyn McDonald.
Ms McDonald spent a day at Ninewells where she met with diagnostic and therapeutic radiography staff to hear about their innovative work.
Ms McDonald toured the clinical research imaging facility, where she heard about the groundbreaking MR-guided focused ultrasound treatment for uncontrollable tremors – the first of its kind in Scotland. She also visited the main imaging department, where diagnostic scans such as x-ray, MRI and CT are carried out, and was given an update on a new stroke thrombectomy treatment area being developed at the hospital.
In the afternoon, Ms McDonald visited the therapeutic radiography department where patients with cancer receive radiotherapy treatments. She was given demonstrations of some of the high-tech equipment used in these treatments, such as a linear accelerator and 3D printing of skin equivalent material and patient moulds.
One of the highlights of the Chief AHP Officer’s visit was seeing the brand new training simulator which uses a virtual radiotherapy treatment room.
Two therapeutic radiographers, Fiona Kennedy and Kelsey Normand, who have recently completed a prestigious NHS Education for Scotland Fellowship programme, displayed posters of their work, and AHP education and teaching lead Fiona Reid recorded an interview with Ms McDonald for her inaugural podcast ‘Time Out with Tayside AHPs’.
Ms McDonald said, “In my role as Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, it is important for me to visit the workforce in NHS Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships and learn of the innovative work that the AHPs do across our 14 professions.
“Due to the pandemic such visits have been limited but my day with the diagnostic radiographers and therapeutic radiographers in NHS Tayside was hugely inspiring.
“The sophisticated facilities across both services along with the collaboration with the University of Dundee provides staff with state-of-the-art equipment and opportunities to develop as clinicians and leaders within their professions.
“I was enormously impressed by the excellent services and the passion shown by staff to ensure their patients receive the very best care from their services.”
NHS Tayside Director of Allied Health Professions Nicola Richardson added, “I was delighted to welcome Carolyn for this visit to showcase both diagnostic and therapeutic radiography services in Tayside.
“We had the opportunity to meet many AHP staff throughout the day and every single person demonstrated professionalism, passion for their role and a commitment to provide excellent services for the people of Tayside.
“The services also presented many groundbreaking innovations which challenge the status quo through research and improvement, with some examples leading the way in the UK.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to all staff who met us over the day and also to Carolyn for taking the time to visit us and to record the first Tayside AHP podcast.”