An Open Invitation to Join the Safety, Quality and Standards Committee

As the name suggests, the College’s Safety, Quality and Standards Committee (SQSC) focuses on safety, quality and standards. It was established to advise the Faculty of Clinical Radiology, other College committees, and the broader College membership about these areas, to deal with related enquiries from external groups and to support “the College’s role in developing policies and position statements to inform and influence governments and other decision-makers about the importance of a viable and sustainable clinical radiology profession in Australia and New Zealand”.

This broad remit means that our meetings cover a varied and interesting range of topics One regular feature is the review of documents produced within the College and by external organisations, for instance when the College is asked to endorse practice guidelines developed by outside organisations across a range of clinical issues. Our role is to make sure that they reflect radiological expertise where appropriate (this often involves RANZCR special interest groups as well) and are consistent with everyday practice conditions for College members in New Zealand and all the different Australian states. We also support and review internal RANZCR guidelines like the 2022 Non-Accidental Imaging guideline and forthcoming Structured Reporting Guideline, and oversee or provide feedback about a number of other ongoing initiatives like Inside Radiology and the iRefer pilot project. 2021 and 2022 also saw some one-off issues arise like responding to coroners’ recommendations for changes to education and consent stemming from a case of fatal contrast anaphylaxis, involvement in a special JMIRO Quality Issue (March 2022), and presenting our work at the 2022 ASM in Adelaide.

The largest single project for 2022/23 is the revision of the Standards of Practice for Clinical Radiology, last approved in 2020. They were developed to “support and ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality diagnostic imaging and interventional radiology services in both community-based and public hospital settings”. The document provides a quality management framework for practice facilities, equipment, staffing, patient management and procedures. It incorporates evidence from published research and relevant external guidelines and references regulatory requirements where applicable. The review process is striving to ensure that this content is up-to-date and also to incorporate feedback from consultation with College members and outside stakeholders, especially the professional organisations representing radiation technologists and medical physicists.

The committee meets six times a year via videoconference, with the potential for one face-to-face meeting a year (deferred since 2020 due to COVID), although some matters are also dealt with out of session. The membership of at least seven people aims to include a broad range of perspectives:

• An elected Faculty of Clinical Radiology Councillor

• A New Zealand Fellow

• A Fellow from at least a minimum number of States and Territories

• Regional Practice

• Public Practice

• Private Practice

• Knowledge of the work of other Faculty of Clinical Radiology Committees

• A Clinical Radiology Trainee

• A Consumer or other External member (with approval from the FCR Council)

• At least three members with an interest in safety, quality and practice standards.

Being part of a group with such a varying workload and diverse membership can really broaden and deepen our understanding of radiology as a specialty, and of how real-world practice works in Australia and New Zealand. Two of us reached their term limits in 2022, so we enter 2023 with vacancies for new members who can bring fresh perspectives to our team.

If you might be interested in applying to join us or would like any more information please feel free to contact Traci James Scott, Program Officer, Standards Unit, at StandardS@ranzcr.edu.au or the SQSC chair, Dr Felicity Pool at fjpool.work@gmail.com