Patient information leaflet for X-ray

Introduction

This information leaflet is for patients who are attending the outpatient X-ray department.

Please contact us in advance of your procedure/examination on 01223 216270 if you:

• have additional requirements that may require a longer appointment
• take time-sensitive medication that means you need to schedule your appointment at a certain time.
• are pregnant
• require hospital transport
• are unable to lie flat
• have mobility issues
• weigh 200kg /31 stone or more

Pregnancy status

Depending on the area of examination, all patients aged between 12 and 55 years of age will be asked if there is a possibility they could be pregnant. This is important for us to know before you have your examination because the X-ray uses ionising radiation. We have a legal responsibility to ask if you are pregnant.

You can discuss this with a healthcare professional in private if you wish.

Preparation for your X-ray

For your appointment you should avoid wearing anything metallic over the body part that will be X-rayed, including necklaces, zips, studs and bras. If you are attending the department for a chest X-ray you may be asked to change into a hospital gown. You may wish to bring your own dressing gown to wear over the top of the hospital gown whilst you are waiting for your X-ray, although this is not essential.

Can I bring someone with me?

Please attend your appointment alone where possible, except for parents and essential carers. Parents and carers accompanying patients may be asked to stay out of the examination room during the X-ray and remain in the waiting area.

Childcare whilst in the department

Staff are unable to look after children whilst an X-ray is taking place. Please make alternative arrangements for the care of your children whilst you attend for your X-ray. If you attend an appointment with children with no one to look after them during your X-ray, then your appointment may have to be cancelled and rescheduled.

How long will I be in the department?

When you attend for an X-ray, your appointment will last approximately 15 minutes. We do our best to run on time, but please note that on the day there might be delays.

What to do when you arrive

Please arrive 10 minutes before your appointment. This will allow you time to change into a gown, if required.

Staff you are likely to meet

During your appointment, you will meet our administration team who will check you in for your X-ray. You will then meet a radiographer who will undertake your X-ray. Cambridge University Hospital is a large teaching hospital and, therefore, there may be students and apprentices present at the appointment. All staff performing the X-ray will introduce themselves before commencing the X-ray.

What will happen on the day of my X-ray?

Depending on the X-ray, you are due to have, you may be asked to change into a hospital gown, and remove any jewellery, which could be overlying the area of interest.

You will then be called into the room where a staff member will introduce themselves. Before the radiographer undertakes the X-ray, they will check that your details match with those provided by the clinic or GP who referred you.

The radiographer will give you instructions on how the X-ray will be undertaken, for example this could be standing, lying flat or sitting on a chair. We have moving aids within the department: if you need any help transferring, please let the radiographers know.

Personal belongings

You will be able to bring all personal belongings into the X-ray room.

What happens after my X-ray?

Once you have had your X-ray, you are free to leave. Your X-ray report will be sent directly to the clinic or GP who referred you. Patients referred from a clinic will be contacted by the clinic with their results or they will be discussed at your next appointment. Patients who have been referred from their GP should contact the surgery for their results. Please ask the radiographer for the current wait times for results.

Patients who are having an X-ray following a recent accident or injury may be asked to wait for a report and will be referred to the Emergency Department if required. The results will also be sent to your GP or clinic.

Patients who are attending the department from their GP for a chest X-ray may have been referred using the Lung pathway. If you are on this pathway, you will be asked to wait after your X-ray to see if you need any further imaging. If you do, this is usually a Computed Tomography (CT) scan. We try to arrange it on the same day, where possible, to avoid you having to return to the hospital for another appointment. We will then give you further information on how to get the results from this.

How, when and by whom will my results be communicated?

Imaging examinations are reported in order of clinical priority to ensure those with the highest urgency are reported first.

Your referring team or clinician will be responsible for communicating reports back to you.

Test results are made available via MyChart but there is a 3-week delay from when an examination has been reported, to being available on MyChart. This is so your doctor can discuss your results directly with you first.

Benefits

X-ray examinations provide doctors with information to help them diagnose a variety of conditions. The procedures/examinations may help to confirm or rule out a suspected diagnosis, or occasionally identify a condition that was not suspected.

Risks

You have been referred for an X-ray examination to help make a diagnosis or to monitor your treatment. A specialist in radiology agrees that this is the best test to answer the clinical question that has been asked and that the benefit of the examination is greater than the risk. The X-ray involves a low dose of ionising radiation equivalent to a few weeks or months of natural background radiation which we are all exposed to every day. Ionising radiation can cause cell damage that may turn cancerous. However, the risk of this happening from your examination is considered very low. The dose delivered will be kept as low as is practicable.

Please ask your Radiographer if you would like further information on this.

Are there any alternative tests?

If you would like to discuss alternative tests, please speak to your referring team. Different types of imaging can show different things. Sometimes you may need more than one type of scan to get a diagnosis.

MyChart

We would encourage you to sign up for MyChart. This is the electronic patient portal at Cambridge University Hospitals that enables patients to securely access parts of their health record held within the hospital’s electronic patient record system (Epic). It is available via your home computer or mobile device.

More information is available on our website: MyChart

Contacts/further information

Please telephone the Outpatient Imaging Department on – 01223 216270 between the hours of 08.30 – 17.00 if you are unable to attend your appointment, and we will rearrange your appointment.

Facilities available

• Toilets
• Accessible toilets
• Changing rooms – including accessible changing facilities
• Baby changing facilities
• Paediatric waiting room
• Moving and handling aids including a hoist

Accessibility requirements

If you require support for your appointment, e.g. if you find it hard to hear, see or be understood by others, please let the receptionist or healthcare professional know on arrival or contact the accessibility team us by by email or telephone: 01223 256998.