BMJ 1995;310:1003 (15 April)

Letters

Diagnostic performance of radiographers can be improved

EDITOR,--A move to a two year screening interval would help reduce the rate of interval cancers noted in the NHS breast screening programme. S Field and colleagues argue, however, that this is prohibited, at least in part, by the limited numbers of trained radiologists able to interpret the additional mammograms that would be necessary.1

One possible means of overcoming this shortage would be to employ radiographers who have received additional training in interpreting screening mammograms. This has previously been suggested as a way of developing the radiographers' role.2 I have shown in another area--fracture radiographs in the accident department--that the diagnostic performance of radiographers can be improved provided they receive supplementary training.3 It has long been standard practice for cytological screening to be routinely undertaken by skilled medical laboratory scientific officers with rigorous quality assurance checks by pathologists. Similar models could, perhaps, be introduced into breast screening units employing skilled . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

What should be done about interval breast cancers?
S Field, M J Michell, M G W Wallis, and A R M Wilson
BMJ 1995 310: 203-204. [Extract] [Full Text]

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