Western Isles Cardiac CT Radiographers presented with their 3 national awards

NHS Western Isles was delighted when our Cardiac CT Radiographers won three prestigious awards by the Society of Radiographers.

The Radiography Awards took place in London in November 2023, but unfortunately the team was unable to attend due to flight cancellations.  

The President of the Society of Radiographers decided to take the award ceremony to Lewis instead last week, where he presented the team with their well-deserved awards.

The team was first named ‘Scottish Team of the Year 2023’ before also being selected as ‘UK Team of the Year’ and winning the ‘Patient’s Choice Award for Exceptional Care’ at a special ceremony in London.

The Cardiac CT Radiographers were nominated for developing a new Radiographer-led service that was established in 2019 from the ground up. The service is fully patient-centred, avoiding unnecessary patient travel and disruption and providing local diagnostics in a system where there is not a Radiologist or Cardiologist on site.   

The team is made up of four enthusiastic and dedicated Radiographers who are trained to provide this innovative and effective service to the population of the Western Isles.

NHS Western Isles were the first site in Scotland to utilise the associated ‘HeartFlow’ technology to aid the diagnosis of coronary heart disease. Two other mainland boards are now piloting the use of HeartFlow.This is the first and only non-invasive test for detection of flow limiting disease.

Since 2020, out of 86 patients scanned, 46 were found to have mild stenosis of a coronary artery using HeartFlow, which meant they avoided long waiting lists for invasive procedures.

Prior to the development of the service, patients previously had an Interventional Coronary Angiogram off-island, with an arterial puncture and all the associated risks. Patients now have access to a safe and local service, rather than an interventional procedure in specialist centre with significant risks associated. Patients are clinically triaged appropriately with support from the specialist centre. Whilst some patients will require an invasive Angiogram, the new service will prevent this for many.   

NHS Western Isles Radiology Manager, Jane Macdonald, said: “The Cardiac CT Radiographers truly deserve these awards, I am so proud of them and their dedication to the service. The team has made a substantial effect on patient care, and significantly improved the patient pathway for the Western Isles. 

“The addition of HeartFlow has further streamlined the patient pathway, we are very pleased to offer this technology locally.  HeartFlow uses fluid dynamics to model any stenosis in the coronary arteries, from the Cardiac CT data already acquired."