Information for patients

On visiting a diagnostic imaging department for diagnostic procedure or a radiotherapy department for radiotherapy treatment you will come across a range of staff who are there to help you and provide the quality of service that you need. In both these departments though you will be seen by a radiographer.

There are two sorts of radiographer: diagnostic and therapeutic.

Patient information available
Patient Information Leaflets may be available from the hospital you are going to for your diagnostic procedure or radiotherapy treatment so it is worth asking what they can provide in advance.

Hospital trusts with good information leaflets include Kings College Hospital and University Hospitals Leicester.

Helpful advice for young patients and their parents/guardians (A&E version) PDF
Helpful advice for young patients and their parents/guardians (Inpatient version) PDF

Online information
The following websites have useful information for patients:

Factsheets from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

The Royal College of Radiologists

Patient UK

NHS direct

An American website radiologyinfo.org gives a comprehensive library of patient information leaflets which are, on the whole, excellent. The website is reviewed and maintained by the Radiological Society of North America and the American College of Radiology. There are some differences between techniques in UK and USA but there are a lot of similarities and visitors are advised to use the patient information leaflets but with some caution.

Visit a virtual department
The Royal College of Radiologists hosts a virtual department website. The site presents an illustrated virtual hospital designed to present clear information for patients using clinical oncology (cancer treatment) and clinical radiology (imaging) departments.

Although individual hospitals provide details about different departments and the way in which those departments work, the Royal College of Radiologists felt that there remained a need to address some of the fears that are associated with a visit to the hospital. This was particularly the case when dealing with cancer and also when dealing with x-rays.

In this virtual hospital you will find two departments. The department of clinical oncology, where much of the treatment of cancer takes place and the department of clinical radiology, where x-rays and scans are performed in the process of diagnosis of a wide variety of different conditions.

Each department has a number of different rooms reflecting hospital departments in real life. Hopefully by visiting the departments you will discover what to expect when you visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment. The virtual departments are interactive with descriptions of the equipment and of the people that you are likely to meet. We plan to include the experiences of real patients so that you can learn from others what you can expect from your visit.

A step by step guide to radiotherapy

This guide provides an overview of the entire process of radiotherapy in simple terms. Starting with what radiotherapy actually is and how important it is in the treatment of cancer, to the processes and personnel needed to provide the service.