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Nuclear medicine hints and tips

27/03/2020

Version 4. 27 March 2020

The SoR Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Advisory Group are sharing their hints, tips and challenges for staff and patient protection during early days of Covid-19 restrictions. The page will be updated as information evolves. Please share your experiences, suggestions or questions.

View the topics below for advice on how to manage or what to consider during the pandemic:

  • Visitors/escorts in the waiting area

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    • Aim to significantly reduce the numbers of visitors remaining with patients and encourage them to drop patient off, returning to collect them later
    • Discuss at the booking phase so it is not a surprise for those escorting the patient to their appointment
    • Use discretion, some patients need their carer/relative to get through the examination
  • Temperature monitoring

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    • Where facilities are available, monitor patient temperature on arrival
    • Have an action plan for those with raised temperatures, or who have other symptoms
  • Clinician contacts

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    • Discourage or prevent referrers/clinicians from visiting the department. Publicise phone numbers and e-mail addresses for enquires
  • Refreshments

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    • Remove disposable cups
    • Provide patients with personal cups after their scan with tea or coffee sachet and biscuit. This prevents multiple cups being handled in the tea coffee area
  • Magazines

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    • Magazines may be considered a source of infection and can make hard surface cleaning difficult
    • Advise patients to bring own reading material
    • Leave patient leaflets for single use
    • Leave compliments and concerns slips
    • Aim for very little time to be spent in the waiting area
  • Patient data forms

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    • Minimise paper handling by multiple people. Stop sending forms by post; complete on arrival to ensure it is handled predominantly by the radiographer/CA
    • The patient will still, of course, need to sign and fill in name/address and it may take a fraction longer, but it will avoid forms which have done the rounds at home
    • All appointment letters and supporting documents will be retained by the patient for their own records, or provide a basket for confidential disposal without being handled
  • Contaminated clothing

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    • Don’t ask patients to bring dressing gowns or extra clothes to minimise contact items
  • Door signage warning for coronavirus symptoms

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    • Display current guidance on the entrance door
    • Be clear about who may/may not enter
  • Managing workloads

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    • Follow business continuity/contingency plans
    • Keep supply of isotopes and other essential stocks under review
    • Keep staff availability and status under review
    • Redeploy radiographers to acute areas as per business continuity and with staff skills
    • Make sure induction/training records are completed and staff member feels confident and supported 
    • Identify where other staff can be used, e.g. technologist cannulating in CT
    • Consider switching all Lung VQ Requests from Perfusion Only (SPECT CT) with CT as screening
  • At risk/high risk staff

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    • Identify high risk procedures, e.g. VQ scans due to aerosol production
    • Risk assess and identify staff at risk; update regularly using new government advice
    • Escalate concerns to senior managers
    • Identify home working tasks and staff who can do them
  • General advice

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    • Communicate regularly with updates and status information
    • Explain decisions that are made
    • Support staff in understanding where and why patient services are reduced or altered
  • Workforce, Governance and Regulations

    • MHRA website for reporting medicine side-effects and equipment incidents
    • Common employment questions
    • COVID testing for staff
    • Health and Safety Executive: Covid-19 RIDDOR Advice
    • Information governance
    • IR(ME)R
    • Guidance for the clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV)
    • Pregnancy
    • Radiology Service Managers
    • Returners to practice; retired radiographers; registered radiographers in other work areas; and volunteers
    • Sick leave and time off
    • Social Partnership Forum pandemic working guidance
    • National staff council terms and conditions
    • SoR members administering covid-19 vaccines
    • The Quality Standard for Imaging (QSI)
  • Infection control and PPE

    • Cleaning and decontamination of equipment
    • Contact with infected patients or suspected cases
    • Infection prevention and control responsibilities
    • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
    • PPE and the importance of workplace risk assessments
    • PPE guidance posters for imaging and oncology teams
    • PPE: Urgent update for members
    • NHS staff urged to have flu vaccine
    • Resuscitation Council UK Statement on PHE PPE Guidance
    • SoR backs call for upgrade in PPE for healthcare staff
    • Treating patients who refuse to wear a mask or suitable face covering
  • Radiotherapy

    • Radiotherapy services
  • Diagnostic Radiography

    • Imaging and interventional radiology
    • Breast screening and mammography
    • IV administration
    • MRI
    • Nuclear medicine
    • Nuclear medicine hints and tips
    • Screening restart
    • Ultrasound
    • CT
    • General radiography
  • Education and students

    • e-Learning for Healthcare
    • Image interpretation resources
    • Planned placement arrangements
    • Pre-registration education providers
    • Students: What you need to know
    • Student dos and don'ts during Covid-19
    • Student support guidance
    • CoR advice to education providers during the Covid-19 pandemic
  • Clinical Guidelines

    • RCR Guidance
    • Royal College of Surgeons Clinical guide to surgical prioritisation
  • HSC Northern Ireland

    • Breast screening
    • Guidance and Information
    • HSC questions and answers for health and social care staff
  • NHS Scotland

    • Covid special leave arrangements
    • National guidance for staff and managers
    • Covid-19 recruitment portal for former health staff and final year students
    • Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee
    • NHS pauses screening programmes across Scotland
    • NHS Scotland Psychosocial support and wellbeing - Looking after people, yourself, and your staff
    • COVID-19 eUpdates
  • NHS Wales

    • FAQs
    • Compassion starts with me - wellbeing resources, toolkits and guidance from across Wales
    • NHS Wales Colleague Health and Wellbeing
    • Student support guidance
  • Wellbeing, emotional and mental health

    • Resilience and wellbeing
    • Wellbeing, emotional and mental health support and resources

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Telephone: 020 7740 7200

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