“One of the best things about my job is that you never know who is coming through the door and who you may meet. Sometimes we only see the patient for less than five minutes, but they can have a really big impact on your day.”
Tehseen Ganchi is a Diagnostic Radiographer and works in the x-ray department. She started at the Trust as a ward volunteer before moving into patient services where she worked for three years while studying her degree.
She said:
The role of a radiographer is to use different methods of imaging to look inside a patient to see what is causing their illness or injury. We work in a range of departments and we get requests for x-rays from multiple places such as GPs, A&E and clinics within the hospital itself.
Most of the time it may take a team of radiographers to work together to take one person’s x-ray. In a day you can be involved in more than 50 patients’ care!
A typical day starts by cleaning and testing the equipment to make sure patients are kept safe. We bring patients in one by one and position them for the x-rays. We check if we are giving them a good dose of radiation suitable for what we are x-raying, as we are responsible for any radiation that we give. After the x-ray we check that the image is of the best quality before we send the patient away and then results can be either same day or a couple of days depending on the referral.
Radiology is about technology and machines. The latest machine we have is called Cone Beam CT – instead of having a 2D image of teeth we can now have an insightful 3D image which can help aid treatments.
I would recommend other people to come into this role because it is a very rewarding one. As a radiographer you play an integral role in many patients’ hospital journeys. This means that you are always helping and keeping patients happy and healthy.
I am very proud to work for the Trust. It has given me the best start to my career. I have been able to achieve things I have never thought I would be able to, thanks to the opportunities I have been given.