Congress:
EuroSafe Imaging 2021
Keywords:
Professional issues, Conventional radiography, CT, Fluoroscopy, Radiation safety, Quality assurance
Authors:
K. Van Slambrouck, H. Bosmans, P. Aerts
DOI:
10.26044/esi2021/ESI-11817
Methods or background
The Euratom/2013/59 directive article 57 1(d) requirement has been transposed into the Belgian legislation in the royal decree published on the 13th of February 2020(1).
Two departments of radiology (OLV hospital Aalst-Asse-Ninove and UZ Leuven) have developed together with the Belgian radiation protection competent authority, FANC, a toolkit that aims to help an imaging department implement the aspect of informing their patients: the legislative point of view, guidance in introducing the concept of informing patients in the healthcare pathway, solutions for frequently occurring issues, supporting material for patients (brochures and posters) and educational material for the staff.
The Euratom/2013/59 directive considers the exposure of carers and comforters as a medical exposure. Justification, optimisation but also information is also applicable to this group. A dedicated brochure for carers and comforters has been developed and guidance on this topic is introduced in the manual.
Moreover, the Belgian legislation has given increased attention towards the possibility of developing deterministic skin effects resulting from interventional procedures. This is a possible risk for certain procedures that needs to be communicated to the patient as well, beforehand but also afterwards when the patient is effectively at risk of developing a skin effect. This requires dedicated pre and postprocedural information for the patients as well as specific guidance for the department on how to handle this specific issue.
The combination of supporting material and concrete guidance should make the toolkit an efficient instrument for departments and hospitals. The complete toolkit has been endorsed by the Belgian society of radiology (BSR) and the Belgian Medical Imaging Platform (BELMIP).