Download Accreditation in Cardiac Imaging

Accreditation in Cardiac Imaging – A Statement from the BCS Imaging Council
The principal modalities of cardiac imaging are echocardiography, invasive contrast angiography, nuclear
imaging, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac computed tomography (cardiac CT). Cardiac
positron emission imaging is currently available in a few specialised centres. The performance and
interpretation of cardiac imaging are tasks requiring a high level of skill, appropriate equipment and
systems of governance and quality control.
As such cardiac imaging should be performed and
interpreted only by suitably qualified and experienced individuals working in departments with
appropriate facilities.
The Imaging Council of the British Cardiovascular Society comprises of
representatives from all the major cardiac imaging groups with the aim of fostering a collaborative
approach to the development of education and practice in cardiac imaging. This must occur within the
framework of training specified by the GMC in the curricula in cardiology and cardiac radiology, by the
future demands of revalidation and by the requirements of allied professional groups. Improvement in
the quality of cardiac imaging in the UK is a common aim of all members of the Imaging Council.
The British Society of Echocardiography (BSE), the British Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
(BSCMR) and the British Society for Cardiac Imaging (BSCI) have all endorsed accreditation procedures
for their members aimed at assisting both individuals and cardiac imaging departments to improve the
level of service that they provide. In the case of magnetic resonance imaging the BSCMR and BSCI
support the criteria developed by the SCMR and do not separately accredit individuals. It must be
stressed that all these accreditation processes are voluntary quality control initiatives and have no
statutory role. They are not designed to restrict practice but simply to provide a means of allowing
practitioners both medical and non medical to demonstrate that they have achieved a specified level of
experience in an appropriate educational environment. For medical trainees the requirements for
individual accreditation relate very closely to those of the relevant training curricula. Departmental
accreditation procedures are primarily a quality improvement scheme designed to facilitate the
introduction of quality control and to demonstrate that staff, equipment and processes reach specified
standards. They may be seen both as a framework for service improvement and also as a tool for under
resourced units to negotiate for improved staffing or facilities to allow them to achieve accreditation.
Details of the accreditation processes offered by the affiliated imaging groups can be accessed via their
websites:
British Society of Echocardiography: www.bsecho.org
British Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging: www.bscmr.org
British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging: www.bsci.org.uk
The curriculum for training in cardiology can be accessed at: www.jrcptb.org.uk/specialties/ST3SpR/Pages/Cardiology.aspx
And for radiology at www.bsci.org.uk