CASE STUDY

Radiology Support Programme - Skills Mix Module

Radiology Support Programme

Background

Understanding their workforce skills was not something that was readily available for this Radiology Department in the South West of England. This lack of transparency of who could do what was having a major impact on delivering the service for patients, planning rotas and on staff confidence and development.

Post

Xytal in Action

Recognising that there must be a better way, Xytals Radiology Support Programme supported the department to understand the current skills mix of their Radiographers, Sonographers and Healthcare Assistants. Offering a safe and friendly environment, our consultants supported the team to understand their current workforce and skill mix challenges and the impact these were having on patients, staff and the department as a whole.

Together a colour coded visual skills matrix was created allowing the team to see for the first time, at a glance, the department’s overall capacity and understand how many staff could perform each activity. This enabled the team to identify gaps and opportunities in their current skills mix which has led to more informed workforce future planning.

Results

The Skills Mix module has enabled the department to make the most effective use of their skills and supported staff to operate at the top of their license. Improvements to the rota process and the upskilling of staff to vet X-ray requests has provided significant time savings for the department (3 hours per week).

What our clients say
  • ‘It’s so positive to have a complete overview of who does what. The process has been very supportive. It’s helped us tease out the answers.’ Consultant Sonographer
  • ‘The sessions have helped us to really articulate what our issues are. You can’t just explain something like this or solve it within 10 minutes, you need a process like this to help you really unpick it. Having to say these issues out loud, and you [Xytal facilitator] are asking all the right questions.’ Clinical Lead Radiographer
  • ‘This will give us the true picture of our establishment. The numbers on the shop floor don’t always give you the whole picture, but this will help us share what we actually have. We needed a different way of sharing our establishment and this has helped.’ Head of Imaging
What our clients say
  • “Everything about the course was excellent – I think all aspects were covered perfectly”
  • "Being made to feel at ease. Great being able to share ideas. I have been given skills to make changes"
  • “I’ve really valued having protected time to tackle this issue. The facilitator guiding process was invaluable”
What our clients say
  • "Without the leadership from Xytal and the time out to look at our processes we would not have collectively found time to deliver this programme"
What our clients say
  • Client confidentiality does not allow us to publish feedback. If you would like to find out more, please contact us and we’d be happy to discuss in more detail.
What our clients say
  • “The programme has opened the door for continued dialogue for continuous improvement within the practice, we now have regular meetings with GPs to discuss ongoing improvement. We can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to do Productive General Practice Quick Start”
What our clients say
  • "The [Xytal] team delivering it were amazing at engaging everyone, working with the group in ways that were inclusive"
  • "They were approachable and very supportive, non-patronising and good fun. They broke down areas to get to the detail and Gave you a tool set take away and use”
What our clients say
  • “My GPs are very happy as it was a quick win with nothing to lose, and we identified areas where the nurses weren’t always printing the scripts. This process has given us motivation to audit regularly in the future and we’re developing some systems”
What our clients say
  • "Since the training I have started to work much more in partnership with the patient to try to find a range of options to help them with their problem”
  • “I think that we have needed this training for a long time”
  • "Thank you from us all for all your hard work and valuable teaching/facilitation"