Diagnostic Radiographer

Almost all hospitals across North West London will have an imaging department. Diagnostic radiographers work across hospitals, hospices or specialist clinics. They are employed to meet a range of imaging needs. Radiographers provide imaging for most hospital departments, including accident and emergency (A&E). 

Patients with a huge variety of conditions need medical imaging. This can range from X-rays for fractured and broken bones to ultrasound examinations during pregnancy or using small amounts of radioactive substances for tumour detection.

Almost everyone will require a form of medical imaging at some point in their lifetime.

A typical day can differ depending on the type of hospital setting they work in, and the specialist equipment they work with. Due to the varied patients, conditions and examinations radiographers see, no two days are the same.

Here is an example of a day in the life of a diagnostic radiographer in a hospital:

I start my day by changing into my uniform and attending a ‘huddle meeting’ with my colleagues who have been working overnight – they tell me about any problems that I need to be aware of during my shift. I switch on any equipment that hasn’t been used overnight, and make sure all our imaging rooms have been cleaned and stocked with anything we may need.

I begin preparing patients for their X-ray examinations. This means giving the patient a hospital gown and instructing them to remove any clothing that might show up on their images (for example, any clothes with zips or buttons). Once the patient is ready, I explain how I would like the patient to stand or sit, and help them into the correct position. I take the X-ray images with our specialist equipment and send them to doctors within the hospital who will use them to diagnose the patient. I also take our mobile X-ray machine around the hospital wards, taking required images of patients who are too unwell to leave their hospital beds.

In the afternoon, l put on specialist protective clothing and take a different machine to one of the operating theatres. For example, when they are putting metal screws and plates into the bones in a patient’s broken leg to help it to heal after a car accident, my job in the theatre is using a machine that can fit above and around an operating table to take X-ray images, so that the surgeon can check that the metalwork is placed correctly in the bone.

My day ends by handing over any important information to my colleagues beginning the evening and night shifts, and ensuring all the images I have taken during the day have been sent to the departments that need them.

Diagnostic radiographers work closely with radiologists (doctors trained to read and report medical imaging), doctors across all specialities, nursing staff caring for patients, administration teams, and many other hospital-based professionals.

You will need a university degree in Diagnostic Radiography. Radiography degrees usually take three - four years full-time study, or up to six part-time. There are also shorter postgraduate courses for people who already have a science degree. Apprenticeships are also available in some NHS hospital trusts, where you ‘earn as you learn’, working part-time and studying part-time.

To start a diagnostic radiography degree, you’ll usually need:

• four or five GCSEs at grades nine to four (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science.
• three A levels, or equivalent, including at least one science.
• A degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study or some apprenticeship routes.

For a newly qualified diagnostic radiographer, you will enter at band 5. The current salary for a band 5 in England is between £28,000 - £34,000. In addition, NHS roles in North West London attract an extra 15-20% of pay as a high cost area supplement, meaning the salary in one of our eight boroughs starts from £32,200.

Support workers are usually employed at NHS agenda for change pay bandings 3 and 4. Salaries can range from £22,000 to £27,500. Including the high cost area supplement, salaries in North West London start from 25,300. 

AHPs are able to move up the agenda for change pay bands as they progress in their career.  To see what the salaries are for more experienced staff, you can view the salary bands here.

The NHS also has other employee benefits such as annual leave of between 27 - 33 days, plus bank holidays; an excellent pension scheme; and other payment schemes during periods where staff are off work e.g. maternity and sickness.

You can find out more about a starting a career as a diagnostic radiographer at these websites:

• healthcareers.nhs.uk
• Radiography careers introduction | CoR (collegeofradiographers.ac.uk)
• Radiographer | Explore careers | National Careers Service

NW London also hosts one of the 5 spokes of a regional Imaging academy in London. Its purpose is to improve the quality and accessibility of training for Imaging staff not just in NW London, but in partnership with our regional colleagues too. For more information, click here.