It is important to deliberate upon the policies on which the edifice of the imaging department stands. The following policies and principles should be given due consideration.
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1. Organisation—This envisages the correct ways in which resources are used to produce satisfactory relationship between use of the resources and demands on the system.
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The organisation manifests in the system of giving appointment, allocation of work among various radiography rooms and darkrooms, for covering emergency work, reception of patients and for processing and reporting of films.
2. Department timings—The services are to be made available for all patients round the clock including accidents and emergencies.
3. Is there going to be more than one shift for outpatients?
4. Waiting time—Will staff and machines are enough to cover all patients during normal working hours without undue waiting time? Waiting for barium studies and IVU studies should not be more than a couple of days.
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5. Emergency and casualty cover—Will there be a separate machine and darkroom for the casualty? If so, it’s staffing. If possible, accident and emergency cases should have separate entrance and waiting area.
6. Urgent reports—Will there be a radiologist cover to give reports on urgent radiograph round the clock?
7. Arrangement for wet film viewing and reporting.
8. Appointment system for ward patients—should be so designed that inpatients do not have to wait unduly.
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9. Should there be separate radiography room for inpatients exclusively?
10. Special investigations—Arrangement to give appointment to both inpatients and outpatients for special investigations.
11. Dispatch of results—What will be the method for dispatch? Will ward and departments collect them from radiology department or will it be delivered to them by radiology department?
12. Arrangements to give report on OPD patients.
13. Methods of coordination between other departments with radiology.
14. Preventive maintenance of machines and equipment by in-house technicians—their duties and responsibilities.
15. OT radiography—Level of physicians/ consultant ordering radiograph in operation theatres.
16. Radiation safety—Method of establishing checks of tubes for monitoring leakage of radiation.
17. Workers receiving more than the safe acceptable radiation dose in a given duration—methods of keeping off duty.
18. Recovery of silver from fixer and developer solutions.
19. Time utilisation of radiographers including relieving/ emergency duties.
20. Precautions while examining female patients.
21. Gonads protection while taking repeated abdominal radiographs of infants and children to prevent radiation damage to gonads.
22. Modalities of instruction to patient on preparation for special examinations.
23. Procedure for requisitioning radiographs from other hospitals for assessment of progress of disease by radiologist.