Referrals from non-medical professionals
Non-medically qualified registered healthcare professionals such as chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists, podiatrists, and chiropodists, may be entitled to refer patients for x-rays as part of their role.
All non-medical referrers (NMR) must complete appropriate IR(ME)R training to be entitled as a referrer to Cobalt Imaging Centre for x-ray.
This training should cover the following topics:
- Principles of radiation protection.
- Benefits and risks of x-ray examinations, including radiation dose levels and the use of appropriate low dose, or non-ionising alternative examinations.
- Ionising Radiation Regulations (IRR) 2017 and the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations (IR(ME)R 2017 regulations.
- Responsibilities of Non-Medical Referrers in relation to patient safety and clinical governance.
- Professional and legislative responsibilities.
Any patient referral needs to be within Cobalt’s Referrers Scope of Practice.
Start referring to Cobalt in three easy steps
Online training required (eLfH)
e-IRMER module 01
| Radiation Hazards and Dosimetry
Special Circumstances
|
e-IRMER module 02
| Patient Selection
|
e-IRMER module 03
| Regulations
|
E-learning for healthcare
- Free access to e-learning for healthcare is available through some professional organisations, such as the Royal College of Chiropractors, or by those with an OpenAthens account.
- If you do not qualify for free access to e-learning for healthcare, access to the course can be purchased through e-Integrity: IRMER Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations Course (eintegrity.org).
Further information on how to access e-LfH can be found on their website: https://support.e-lfh.org.uk/get-started/registration/#1553 - If you have previously (within the last three years) completed alternative IR(ME)R training, such as the British Institute of Radiology, (BIR) ‘Requesting Imaging Safely’ course, or similar, please contact us. This may be accepted in place of the recommended e-IRMER training.
X-ray suite
Medical Charity Cobalt has recently upgraded its x-ray suite with a premium system incorporating the latest technology and advanced features, producing higher-quality images without any increase in radiation dose.
