Authors (including presenting author) :
Lee YS(1), Yeung TW(2), Choy CH(1), Li A(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Department of Radiology, Tuen Mun Hospital, (2) Department of Radiology, Tseung Kwan O Hospital
Introduction :
MRI service in the New Territories West Cluster (NTWC) has been rapidly expanding, with four operating MRI machines by the end of 2022. Moreover, commencement of intraoperative MRI service is anticipated in the nearest future upon completion of the new Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) operation theatre extension block in 2024. With an increase in workload and staff involvement in MR imaging, be they radiology or non-radiology staff, the importance of MRI safety awareness shall be emphasized, especially in recent few years where MRI safety has been rapidly catching attention in the radiology community internationally
Objectives :
This audit was first of its kind in Hong Kong, and could be used as a pioneering model to how MRI safety staff training could be in the future of MRI study education and credentialing. With rapid development and expansion of service, MRI safety knowledge is deemed essential in the near anticipated future for both radiology and non-radiology staff.
Methodology :
There is currently no widely accepted to published standards on staff MRI safety awareness level, quizzes and MRI safety training in Hong Kong or internationally. A questionnaire consisting of 25 questions was designed based on our local practice and HA & ACR references, targeting radiology staff in TMH of different ranks and posts, determining and evaluating staff knowledge on different aspects of MRI safety. Interventions targeting the potential areas of improvement were implemented through top-down and bottom-up approaches at hospital and departmental level in response to the first audit cycle result, followed by conduction of a second audit cycle using the same questionnaire. Two scoring benchmarks were set at 80% and 90% respectively.
Result & Outcome :
The overall performance of participants has significantly improved after our interventions, where 32% (from 0%) of staff achieved 90% standard and 77.8% (from 23.5%) staff achieved 80% in the questionnaire. Radiologists are the highest scoring group in both cycles, where radiology fellows achieved a mean score of 93.3% in the second cycle. Moreover, 100% of our MRI radiographers attained the observation benchmark of 80% after our interventions. Hence, with effective top-down and bottom-up measures, significant and satisfactory improvement in staff knowledge on MRI safety could be achieved.
