Communication Audit Report 140109

National Audit of Generic Reporting and Effective Communication, 2007 / 2008 R. Warwick, K. Drinkwater On behalf of the Clinical Radiology Audit Sub-Committee of The Royal College of Radiologists Introduction Communication with clinicians is central to the practice of radiology. This is done predominantly by means of the radiology request card and report. The generation of a clear report in a style understandable by the requesting clinician and addressing a clinical question asked is a fundamental requirement of any radiology provider (1). As reports are increasingly sourced from alternative providers it is essential that these standards are identified and maintained. The RCR ‘Standards for the Reporting and Interpretation of Imaging Investigations’ (2) gives guidance for governance and reporting by both radiologists and non radiologists. This audit aims to assess compliance with standards derived from guidance applying specifically to the content of issued reports with respect to appropriate communication. The standards are shown in Table 1 together with indicators used to determine whether they had been met. Table 1 Standards and indicators Standards (national targets) Indicator 1. Clinical issues should be addressed (> = % of reports in which all clinical issues are 95%). addressed. 2. Clinical advice, when given, should be% of reports in which clinical advice, when given, appropriate (> = 95%). was appropriate. ...