Introduction

Radiography is the fulcrum around which the rest of medicine revolves. Its significance in healthcare means thatin order for radiographers and student radiographers to deliver good service, they must take a number of precautions to ensure that the high standards in this profession are met.

This assignment will emphasise key responsibilities of a student radiographer in respect to patient care.

It will summarise and explain four important points which are: confidentiality, consent, communication and radiation protection. The assignment will be linked and referenced to relevant sources researched, such as the NHS constitution and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) alongside other legislations and published work that analyse the objective. Finally, this assignment will then end with a conclusion of the points that were discussed.

Confidentiality

The duty to maintain patient confidentiality is fundamental to Radiography or any other healthcare professions and is enriched in the law, ethics and in professional codes of practice and conduct (Cuthbert & Quallington 2008). Radiographers and students are expected to follow the Data Protection Act 1998 which was designed to provide a legal framework that outlines the protection of the privacy of personal data when used with information technology and to be kept within strict professional boundaries. The Code of Conduct of Ethics (2008) states that radiographers and student radiographers must not share the medical or personal details of a patient with anyone except those healthcare professionals who are essential to the well being of the patient. Ultimately, if patients information is shared out of these legal boundaries, then this could result is prosecution (Gov UK 2016).

Student radiographers would have access to, and are entrusted with patient’s sensitive information relating to their health and other matters as part of the patient seeking treatment. The patients do so in confidence and they have the legitimate expectation that staff and students will respect their privacy and act appropriately. (Department of Health 2003). The Health & Care Professions Council 2016 clearly state that student radiographers must respect confidentiality by keeping information about service users and carers strictly confidential and only use it for the original purpose it was given. It also states that student radiographers must ensure to remove any information that could be used to identify a service user in their academic work related to their programme (HCPC 2016).

It is vital that patients are informed and made aware of information disclosures that must take place in order to provide them with high quality care (Department of Health 2003). As a student radiographer it is extremely important to respect the patient’s decision if they chose not to allow certain information to be shared and disclosed. Service users and patients must be comfortable and believe that they can talk honestly and frankly without feeling a sense of fear of exposure, otherwise they may hold back and not share information which is not only important to them, but the well being of others. Jones (2003) found that confidentiality is clearly valued by patients, and see it as something vital to the medical consultation, and feel that disclosure of their information to others without their consent can lead them to deter from seeking treatment in the future.

Consent

Communication and patient safety play important roles in being an effective mammographer and providing patient care.