Plain film reporting by radiographers—a feasibility study

Abstract

Two specially-trained radiographers reported 561 plain film examinations on accident and emergency (A/E) patients in parallel with rota radiologists of varying seniority. The reports were concordant in 495 cases (88.2%) and discordant in 66 (11.8%). The incidence of errors (false positives and false negatives) in the reports made by the two groups of observers was not significantly different. It may be feasible to introduce suitably trained radiographers into a reporting rota for A/E examinations with no detriment to the quality of reports.