Introduction to a

Career in Imaging at
University Hospitals Birmingham
NHS Foundation Trust

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 1

Contents
Introduction
Introduction to UHB 4
Introduction to Birmingham 6
Our hospitals 8
Our history 10

Working in UHB Imaging Services

Investment in Imaging 15
UHB Imaging Services Roles 16
Your career journey at UHB 17

Contact details 23

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 3

Introduction to UHB
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
(UHB) is a high performing healthcare organisation with
a proven international reputation for its quality of care,
information technology, clinical education and training
and research.
UHB runs the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham,
Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital, Solihull
Hospital, Birmingham Chest Clinic and various community
services across the region.
UHB employs more than 21,000 members of staff. It
is one of the largest trusts in England treating over 2.8
million patients each year, and has more than 2,700 beds
across its sites.
The Trust has regional centres for trauma, burns, plastics,
neurosciences, dermatology and cancer. It also has centres
of excellence for vascular, bariatric and pathology services,
as well as the treatment of MRSA and other infectious
diseases. It also has expertise in HIV/AIDS, premature
baby care, bone marrow transplants and thoracic surgery.
4 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
The Trust delivers approximately 10,000 babies each year
and provides around 20,000 days of neonatal care.
UHB has the largest solid organ transplantation
programme in Europe and runs Umbrella, the sexual
health service for Birmingham and Solihull. It is also home
to the West Midlands Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre and
a nationally-renowned weight management clinic and
research centre.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is a Major
Trauma Centre treating the most severely injured
casualties from across the region. The hospital’s single site
100-bed critical care unit is the largest in Europe.
The Trust hosts the Institute of Translational Medicine
(ITM) and led the West Midlands Genomics Medicine
Centre as part of the national 100,000 Genomes Project.
UHB is proud to host the Royal Centre for Defence
Medicine (RCDM). The RCDM provides dedicated training
for defence personnel and is a focus for medical research.
UHB also holds the contract for providing medical services
to military personnel evacuated from overseas via the
aero medical service. UHB is one of only a small number
of hospitals that can provide the full range of medical
specialties – trauma, burns, plastics, orthopaedics,
neurosurgery and critical care – needed to treat the
complex nature of conflict injuries, all under one roof.

The pioneering techniques in surgery and pain control

that have been developed whilst treating military patients
are now being used for civilian surgery in the UK and
elsewhere and are being progressed through the Surgical
Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre
(SRMRC).

Due to its pioneering work, the Trust is regularly the

subject of television documentaries, most recently the
award-winning BBC Two programme ‘Surgeons: At the
Edge of Life.’

UHB is regarded as an exemplar for its clinical and non-

clinical governance systems.

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 5

An introduction to Birmingham:
a world-class city
Birmingham is England’s second largest city with a
reputation for first-class academic and clinical study, a
world-renowned cultural scene and an ethnically diverse
population.

Birmingham is one of the UK’s most multicultural cities.

Approximately 42 percent of the city’s population is
ethnically diverse, and more than 20 percent is from
overseas. This has created an exciting, confident and
vibrant city, with an international culinary offering to
match. From Michelin delights to award-winning street
food, Birmingham’s cuisine is just one way in which the
city’s rich diversity is celebrated.

It is also one of the youngest cities in Europe.

Birmingham’s age profile can be attributed to the growth
in students attending one of the city’s five universities,
which attract learners from across the globe.

With an international airport of its own, the city has

excellent connections to the rest of the country and
beyond. Its position in the heart of England means the
city is only 90 minutes by high-speed train from London,
but has much lower living costs than the capital.

There has been huge investment in the city over recent

years, including the opening of Europe’s largest library
and the £600 million redevelopment of New Street train
station. Major businesses continue to choose Birmingham
as a key office location with BT, HSBC, KPMG, Barclays
and PwC UK expanding into the city.

Every year, more than 40 million tourists enjoy

Birmingham’s varied arts scene, restaurants and shops.
As host of the Commonwealth Games in 2022, the city
continues its long tradition of hosting global sporting
events. This includes international test cricket matches at
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, two top football clubs and
world-class athletics events at the National Indoor Arena
and Alexander Stadium.

For further information about the city,

visit: www.visitbirmingham.com

6 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 7
 M6

Our hospitals A452

M42

A34 H
Good Hope
A41 Hospital A38
A452
M6

M6 Toll
A34
A41
A38 M6

Birmingham
Queen H
Elizabeth
A456 Hospital Heartlands
Hospital
Birmingham
A45
H A38

A41
Solihull
A456 Hospital

M5 M42 A452

Edinburgh

Glasgow
Newcastle
Belfast

M42
Leeds
Birmingham Airport
Manchester
150 destinations
M5 Liverpool

Birmingham
Birmingham New Street
train station
London London 1hr 20 mins

Road network
M6 & M42 + A45

8 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

 Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Birmingham
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is a tertiary
NHS and military hospital in the Edgbaston area of
Birmingham, situated very close to the University of
Birmingham. The hospital, which cost £545 million to
construct, opened in 2010. It is one of the largest single-
site hospitals in the UK. The hospital provides a whole
range of services including secondary services for its local
population, and regional and national services for the
people of the West Midlands and beyond.
Heartlands Hospital
Heartlands Hospital is based at the heart of a
bustling, dynamic community in East Birmingham.
The large hospital offers an extensive array of services
and the new Heartlands Treatment Centre
is being built on the site at a cost of £97.1m.
Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 9
Good Hope Hospital
Good Hope Hospital is based in Royal Sutton Coldfield,
and serves north Birmingham and a large part of south
east Staffordshire. The hospital provides acute and
general medicine and other specialist services. A Clinical
Skills Suite, which is part-funded by the Medical School
of the University of Birmingham, is based on site.
Solihull Hospital
Solihull Hospital is an acute general hospital in
Solihull, West Midlands. As a result of the COVID-19
pandemic, Solihull Hospital was transformed into a site
clear of COVID-19, allowing the Trust to continue
with elective surgery. The hospital also boasts the
Dermatology Unit, which is well respected nationally
having won awards for its ground-breaking work.
Our history
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Birmingham and Selly Oak Hospital

1800s Throughout the century Birmingham sees the

establishment of various charitable hospitals. It was soon
recognised that each specialist hospital offers staff and
students considerable benefits and that clinical teaching in
a hospital setting is very advantageous. These institutions
and a medical school, founded by a young local surgeon
William Sands Cox, unite as part of the University of
Birmingham.

1872 The Kings Norton Union workhouse opens on

Raddlebarn Road in Selly Oak at a cost of £20,000.

1897 A separate infirmary is built on land adjoining the

workhouse and a training school is established.
1914-1918 During and after the First World War, the
Union’s infirmaries are gradually reorganised. The
workhouse is renamed Selly Oak Hospital and given a
revised catchment area.
1934 On 23 October the foundation stone is laid by the
Prince of Wales.
1938 On 31 December the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is
opened by the Duke of Gloucester and his wife.

1922 A mile away in Edgbaston, a hospital centre (which
would become the Queen Elizabeth Hospital) is first
proposed when Alderman W. A. Cadbury opposed the
extension of the existing General Hospital. Plans get
underway for a new hospital at an estimated cost of
£1,000,000.
1929 Plans for the new 600-bed hospital focus on clinical
teaching in medicine, surgery, therapeutics, midwifery,
diseases of women, ophthalmology, ENT, orthopaedics,
dermatology, venereal disease and radiology.
1939 In March, the hospital is officially opened by King
George VI and Queen Elizabeth after whom it is named.
1942 A School of Nursing officially opens at Selly Oak
Hospital.
1949 Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen, and Prince
Philip visit Selly Oak Hospital.
1960 The first ever pacemaker fitted in Britain is given to
a patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

1933 Construction begins at the site. It is built to include
740 patient bed spaces for regular patients with an extra
100 for paying patients. It marks a new departure for
medicine in Birmingham, linking hospital and academic
medicine on a single site.
1974 The first renal patient ever is dialysed at the Queen
Elizabeth Hospital.
1995 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, together with Selly
Oak Hospital, become the University Hospital Birmingham
NHS Trust.

2001 The Centre for Defence Medicine (CDM) is opened

at Selly Oak Hospital on 2 April by the Princess Royal.

2002 The Centre for Defence Medicine is given approval

by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and given royal status.
It is re-named The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine.

2006 Construction begins on the new Queen Elizabeth

Hospital Birmingham.

2008 Celebrations mark the 3000th liver transplant

carried out at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

10 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

2010 The first phase of the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Birmingham (QEHB) opens in June and replaces Selly Oak
Hospital. The new building, which costs £545 million to
construct, is one of the largest single-site hospitals in the
UK and is part of one of the largest teaching trusts in
England

2012 Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Queen

Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

2012 With its international reputation for its expertise

in gunshot and blast injuries, Nobel Peace Prize winner
Malala Yousafzai is treated at QEHB after being shot by
the Taliban.

2015 The Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM), a

new world-class clinical research facility, opens. Led
by Birmingham Health Partners (BHP), the ITM helps
progress the very latest scientific research findings from
the University into enhanced treatments for patients.
demonstration is hosted by the Medical Devices Testing
2018 University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC) in UHB’s prestigious
Trust merges with Heart of England Foundation Trust. simulation lab.
One of the largest NHS trusts in England is formed,
comprising four acute hospitals, community services and 2020 UHB cares for the largest number of COVID-19
Umbrella, Birmingham and Solihull’s sexual health service. patients in the country, redeploying hundreds of staff
across the organisation. The Trust sets up the region’s
2019 UHB hosts the UK’s first demonstration of a remote- Nightingale Hospital at the National Exhibition Centre.
controlled ultrasound scan over a public 5G network. The

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 11

The History of Heartlands Hospital
1895 City Hospital (Little Bromwich) is built, primarily as
an infectious diseases hospital.
1910 The hospital’s first laboratory is built to help
diagnose diphtheria due to the difficulty in distinguishing
between scarlet fever and diphtheria.
1950 A polio epidemic sees 355 confirmed cases
admitted to Little Bromwich, of which 46 died. This
was two years before Dr Jonas Salk developed the first
effective polio vaccine.
1963 Yardley Green and Little Bromwich hospitals
amalgamate to become the East Birmingham District
General Hospital and its Accident Unit opens in the same
year.
1965 The Renal Unit opens at East Birmingham Hospital,
consisting of five beds at the end of an infectious diseases
ward. It moves to a newly adapted ward in 1969, where it
stays until 1994 when the new Glaxo Renal Unit opens.
1969 The Immunology department is set up in 1969 by
Professor Ron Thompson, the first Clinical Immunologist
ever appointed in the NHS. The Immunology service
at East Birmingham Hospital was one of two National
Centres for the diagnosis and management of patients
with immune deficiency.
1970s The Cystic Fibrosis centre is established in the early
1970s.
1992 East Birmingham District General Hospital becomes
the first acute Trust in Birmingham and changes its name
to Heartlands Hospital. The neonatal unit opens.
1993 The Princess of Wales Maternity Unit is officially
opened by Diana, Princess of Wales, and Hawthorn
House, a specialist HIV and sexual health centre, is also
built on site.
12 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
1994 The Glaxo Renal Unit opens its doors. It offers
outpatient dialysis sessions for renal patients.
1995 Heartlands Hospital merges with Solihull Hospital
and is renamed Birmingham Heartlands and Solihull NHS
Trust (Teaching).
2005 Birmingham Heartlands & Solihull NHS Trust
achieves Foundation Trust status, becoming Heart of
England NHS Foundation Trust.
2013 A cutting edge, £12m Medical Innovation
Development and Research Unit (MIDRU) and Diabetes
Centre officially opens.
2013 The microbiology laboratories undergo an £11m
expansion. The labs are a partnership with Public Health
England and among the most complex and technically
sophisticated in the country.
2013 The Birmingham Chest Clinic celebrates its 80th
birthday.
2016 The first female President of the Royal College
of Surgeons opens a state-of-the-art £4 million hybrid
operating theatre. One of only three of its kind in the UK
and a first in the Midlands, it opens the door for world-
class treatments and training. The Trust’s position as the
Regional Centre for Vascular Surgery is confirmed.
2018 Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust merges with
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
making it one of the largest hospital trusts in England,
treating more than 2.2 million patients each year.
2022 The Heartlands Treatment Centre will open in
Autumn 2022. £97.1m is being invested in the new four-
storey building which will house outpatients, imaging, day
surgery and endoscopy services.
The History of Good Hope Hospital
1943 Good Hope Hospital begins life as a large Victorian
house, called Good Hope, which was purchased for
£5,000. It is used as a convalescent home for patients
from nearby Sutton Cottage Hospital.
1950s Good Hope remains a convalescent home until the
early 1950s. During the Cold War two single story wards
are built as a place to evacuate people from Birmingham
in the event of a nuclear attack.
1967 The Sheldon Unit, comprising four wards, opens.
The Fothergill Block, originally built as a maternity
hospital, is opened on 24th October 1967 by The Duchess
of Kent.
1967 The Postgraduate Medical Centre is opened on 15
July 1967 by Sir Max Rosenheim, President of the Royal
College of Physicians.
2001 A new Education Centre opens.
2012 A revolutionary orthopaedic operation is carried out
which allows patients to ‘regrow a knee’ from scratch in
a lab.
2013 Over £1.5 million is invested in modernised
technology for the hospital’s radiology department
including a new state-of-the-art CT scanner.
2013 A newly-refurbished Emergency Department opens
with brand new facilities costing £4.3 million.
2013 Two new laparoscopic theatres are opened, the
only bespoke laparoscopic theatres in the West Midlands
area. At the same time, a new day case unit and surgical
admissions unit are built.
2016 Patients benefit from the opening of a new state-of-
the-art digital x-ray room in the Emergency Department.
2016 A £3.2m Acute Medical Triage and Assessment Unit
(AMU) officially opens for business. Princess Alexandra
visits the new unit and unveils a commemorative plaque.

2003 A new Treatment Centre opens providing outpatient
and diagnostic services for patients. The first phase, a
new endoscopy suite, opens in July 2005. The second
phase, the outpatient and diagnostic services, opens in
September 2005.
2018 A senior nurse at Good Hope is the first nurse in the
UK to fit a patient with a pacemaker.
2018 Good Hope Hospital becomes part of University
Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.

2008 The Hollier Simulation Centre opens providing state-

of-the-art training facilities for doctors, dentists, nurses,
and allied health professionals. It is run in collaboration
with the University of Birmingham.

2011 £26m is invested in a brand new eight ward block.

The four-storey structure includes a new coronary care
unit and cardiac ward. It also boasts a stroke unit and
intensive care and high dependency facilities.

Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 13

The History of Solihull Hospital
1839 Solihull Hospital first opens its doors as a
workhouse for the poor, including the homeless, sick,
older people and those with smallpox and TB.

1948 The site joins the National Health Service as Solihull

Hospital.

1994 Solihull District General Hospital opens. For the first

time a modern purpose-built hospital provides all types of
treatment on one site.

2007/8 A state-of-the-art MRI scanner is installed which

enables fresh blood imaging and eliminates the use of
contrast media.

2010 A brand new midwifery-led birthing unit opens and

provides care for women with low risk of complications.

2015 A brand new £3.5 million Dermatology Unit opens

its doors to patients and Solihull Hospital cements its
position as one of the leading dermatology centres in 2018 VIPs open a new £2.2 million Haematology and
the UK. Oncology Day Unit.

14 | Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Investing in the future through a career
in Imaging
The Trust has invested significantly in Imaging Services,
through upgrading and modernising equipment
and facilities. Over the last year alone, a Nuclear
Medicine suite was built at Good Hope Hospital with
newly installed SPECT CT Gamma Camera, and the
mammography unit has also been replaced. At Heartlands
Hospital, an additional CT scanner has been installed
with AI technology to produce high quality images at
a lower dose and a replacement digital OPG machine
has been installed. Solihull Hospital have installed a
new digital OPG machine. At QE, they have acquired an
additional portable ultrasound machine and new dual
energy CT scanner.
As a result of a partnership between UHB and the
Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM), a purpose-
built imaging research facility opened on the Queen
Elizabeth site in 2017. The centre supports a broad range
of research for many specialities including cardiac, liver,
neuroscience and trauma. The centre, which
houses the latest MRI technology,
provides the latest imaging
techniques and provides the
opportunity to evaluate new
technology for the benefit
of patients.
Along with upgrades
to imaging
equipment and
facilities, UHB has
received £97.1
million funding
Introduction to a career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 15
from the Department for Health and Social Care for the
new Heartlands Treatment Centre. Imaging services will
be included in this development, where nearly half a
million patients each year will be cared for, with plans
to locate ambulatory imaging on the lower ground floor
of the four-storey build. The imaging service will benefit
from state-of-the-art equipment including two x-ray
rooms, two ultrasound rooms, two CT scanners, two MRI
scanners, and staff facilities, including meeting rooms,
showers, changing rooms, lockers and a large staff room.
The co-location of ambulatory imaging with outpatient
clinics and the procedures floor will offer patients a
purpose-built ambulatory care environment.
Our imaging departments take a patient-focused
approach to continuous 24/7 service delivery and having
modern, state-of the-art equipment and facilities make
a huge difference to patient care and also to the work
environment for staff, opening up opportunities for
those who may wish to work in a range of
specialist services.
We invest in staff at all levels
by providing opportunities
to develop into advanced
practice or Consultant
Radiographer roles
making the service an
attractive proposition
for any inspiring
individuals who
are keen to build a
career in Imaging.
Roles in UHB Imaging Services
Type of Role Band Advanced Practice Opportunities at Band 5

24 Advanced Practitioners,
six expanding their scope
of practice, one Consultant
Plain Film Band 4-8a Radiographer. Scope includes
apprendicular, axial, chest,
abdomen and paediatric
reporting
Participation in all
examinations, including
mobiles, theatre and dental.
Experience in trauma work,
OPs and IPs

Five Advanced Practitioners, Assist in all examinations, e.g.

one trainee. Scope includes Barium swallows, HSGs, gastric
Fluoroscopy Band 4-7 Barium swallow, HSGs, Gastric band adjustments, urology
band adjustments studies, pain management

Three Advanced Practitioners

reporting CT head scans.
Participation in CT.
Extended practice in virtual
CT Band 5-7 colonoscopy, US guided
Opportunities for CPD and
further development
cannulation and administration
of IV beta blockers

Three Advanced Practitioners

Opportunity for CPD in MRI
reporting MRI MSK scans
MRI Band 6-7 Radiographer led referrals for
to widen experience and
knowledge base
foreign body in orbits

50% of all ultrasound scans are Opportunity for CPD in

performed by Sonographers. Ultrasound to widen
Ultrasound Band 6-8 Five full time trainees at post experience and knowledge
graduate level base

Opportunity for CPD in

Nuclear Medicine to widen
Nuclear Medicine Band 5-7 N/A
experience and knowledge
base

Training opportunities
Five Consultant Radiographers;
available. Opportunity
scope includes mammorgaphy
Breast Imaging Band 4-8 reading, breast ultrasound and
for CPD in mammography
to widen experience and
interventional procedures
knowledge base

Trainee opportunities in
Two Advanced Practitioners in
Interventional radiology
Interventional Band 5-8 interventional, scope includes
development to band 6, as
line insertions and fistulograms
well as CPD opportunities

16 | Introduction to a Career
career inin Imaging
Imaging at
at University
University Hospitals
Hospitals Birmingham
Birmingham NHS
NHS Foundation
FoundationTrust
Trust
Your Career Journey
What to expect as a graduate in your first 18 months working in Imaging

Day 3...
• Meet with Team
Leader at your main
Start Date... base hospital site
• Given induction
• Attend two day
documents
Trust Induction
• Tour of the
department
• 12 week clinical
Approx 8 weeks…
induction scheduled • Meet with Training
& Development Co-
ordinator to discuss CPD
and Preceptorship
During first 3 Months…. • Allocated with a Band 6
• Regular meetings arranged at the Trained Preceptor
middle and end of the induction period. • Given a Preceptorship
folder which forms the
basis of a CPD folder
(for newly qualified
radiographers)
• Booked on to attend a
Post Induction… four day multidisciplinary
Trust Preceptorship
• Take part in the Out of Hours Service
course

Preceptorship
Multidisciplinary preceptorship course Post Preceptorship...
for new graduates: • Organise to attend the
• 4 day course spread over first 12 Birmingham City University
months post qualification Student Mentor and
Assessor Training
• Become a Student Mentor
and Assessor
• Use CPD time to gain
During first 12 Months…. experience in areas of
interest, e.g. ultrasound,
• Complete preceptorship folder with MRI, NM, Interventional,
support from preceptor Cardiology, Paediatrics

Introduction
Introduction to career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 17
to aa Career
Staff career timelines
Jo Connolly
Jo started her career at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in a junior role,
before completing a degree and securing a role in CT imaging.

2001 Sept 2015

I started working Started degree
for the Trust course in
in the Queen 2014/15 Diagnostic 2019
Elizabeth Hospital Radiography at Started
as a junior clerical Completed Access Birmingham City employment in a
officer in Imaging. to Science course. University. Band 6 role in CT.

2010-15 2015 June

Moved across to Successful - July 2018
QEHB- working as application to be Graduated with a
a clerical officer seconded from the 2.1.
In the Accident Trust to undertake Started
and Emergency degree. employment with
imaging UHB as a Band 5
department. I Radiographer.
covered out of
hours shifts.

18 | Introduction to a Career
career inin Imaging
Imaging at
at University
University Hospitals
Hospitals Birmingham
Birmingham NHS
NHS Foundation
FoundationTrust
Trust
Janet Hoffman
After graduating with an Ancient History Degree, Janet enrolled on a clinical
placement in Imaging before completing a degree in Diagnostic Radiology.
This put her in good stead to secure a role in the UHB Imaging Department.

2009
Janet commenced
her Diagnostic
Radiography
2015 2018
degree and was Janet became a Completed a post
2022
placed at Queen Band 6 Specialist graduate study Reporting
Elizabeth and Selly Radiographer in module in cross Musculoskeletal
Oak Hospitals. CT. sectional anatomy. images

2012 2017 2019

Janet became Became a joint Took a
a Band 5 Student Co- musculoskeletal
Radiographer at ordinator, reporting course at
Queen Elizabeth supervising and Birmingham City
Hospital Birmingham overseeing the University.
imaging students.

Introduction
Introduction to career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 19
to aa Career
Katie Walker-Stabeler
Katie started work at Heartlands Hospital after completing a degree,
developing a wide range of skills in several areas of Imaging. Katie has
completed a post-graduate qualification, as well as mentoring and assessor
qualifications, and became a Consultant Radiographer in Breast Imaging.

2014/15
Successfully gained
a training post while Sept 2015 2019
studying a Postgraduate To meet the needs Worked
Certificate in of the expanding towards the
Mammography. breast service I final year of
Working in a symptomatic successfully gained an MSC in
Breast clinic, taking Diagnostic
a position to
mammograms and Imaging,
complete a three
assisting with Breast completing the
year MSc Diagnostic
stereotactic core biopsies
2007 -2010 and wire localisations for Radiography Mammography
affiliated with film reading
Studied for BSc breast surgery. Band 6 qualification
Hons in Diagnostic post created opportunities University of Leeds.
I gained the and submitting
Radiography at to development as a senior a piece of
Sheffield Hallam in plain film radiographer post graduate
certificate in breast research in her
University. alongside mammography
ultrasound. chosen field.
skills.

2010 - 2012 2013 - 2014 2015 - 2016 2022

Band 5 Continued to Maintaining Working as
Radiographer develop my skills skills with recent Consultant
at Heartlands in Radiography Advanced Practice Radiographer
Hospital. Gained taking on additional in Breast ultrasound in Breast
experience in plain roles. Completed and reporting. Imaging.
film radiography, the student mentor During year two,
theatres, Fluroscopy, and assessor’s I continued to
CT scans. course. Became work towards
Health and Safety competencies in
representative for Interventional
Solihull Radiology. Breast procedures
Performed Quality including
Assurance on ultrasound and
Mammography stereotactic guided
equipment. procedures.

20 | Introduction to a Career
career inin Imaging
Imaging at
at University
University Hospitals
Hospitals Birmingham
Birmingham NHS
NHS Foundation
FoundationTrust
Trust
Harriet Rzeskiewicz
Harriet went from working as an Imaging Department Assistant to
starting a trainee Sonographer post after securing a first class medical
ultrasound degree.

September
2016 September
2019
December I was seconded
by QEHB to I started
2014 complete a medical postgraduate
Began working ultrasound degree modules at BCU
at QEHB as (the first of its and aim to gain
an Imaging kind in the UK) at a postgraduate
Department Birmingham City diploma in the next
Assistant (IDA). University (BCU). couple of years.

Oct 2015 - June/July 2022

May 2016 2019 Working as
Sonographer
I completed an I graduated
Access to Science with a first class
diploma via an degree and
online provider began the trainee
while continuing to Sonographer post
work as an IDA. at QEHB.

Introduction
Introduction to career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 21
to aa Career
Site equipment

Queen Elizabeth Heartlands

Hospital Birmingham Hospital
• 11 digital radiography rooms, one • Three CT scanners (operational 8am –
computed radiography dental room and 8pm with emergency scans provided from
one OPD radiographers on site 24/7)
• Five fluoroscopy rooms • Two 1.5T Widebore MRI scanners
(operational 8am – 8pm, seven days a
• Six CT scanners – two dual energy, two 64 week)
slice, and two 128 slice scanners
• Ultrasound - obstetric and general
• Six MRI scanners (7.30am-8pm seven days
a week with 24/7 availability on-call) and • Gamma Camera with SPECT
one research scanner • Interventional Radiology (Flat plate floor
• Ten ultrasound rooms mounted C-arm)
• Four interventional angiography suites • Cardiac catheter labs
• Four cardiac catheter labs • Floor mounted flat plate fluoroscopy unit
• 11 image intensifiers • State-of-the-art Hybrid Theatre
• 14 mobile x-ray units • Four Digital Radiography units and a DR
OPG machine
• Nuclear Medicine - four gamma cameras
(one operated at Birmingham Children’s • Four DR mobiles, four CR mobile units and
Hospital) and two Bone Densitometry seven image intensifiers
rooms • Bone Densitometry
• PET Centre with one PET Scanner • Heartlands Treatment Centre to open
• South Birmingham Breast Screening in Autumn 2022: lower ground floor to
Unit with four mammography rooms; include 2 MRI, 2 CT, 2 DR, 2 Ultrasound
two ultrasound rooms and two mobile
mammography units

22 | Introduction to a Career
career inin Imaging
Imaging at
at University
University Hospitals
Hospitals Birmingham
Birmingham NHS
NHS Foundation
FoundationTrust
Trust
Good Hope Solihull
Hospital Hospital
• Two CT scanners (CT head and neck scans • One 80 slice CT scanner (CT Head and Neck
provided by radiographers on site 24/7) scans provided by radiographers on site
• 1.5T MRI scanner (operational 8am – 8pm, 24/7)
seven days a week) • One 1.5T MRI scanner (operational 8am –
• One 1.5 T widebore MRI scanner 8pm, seven days a week)
• Ultrasound - 4 Obstetric & 5 general rooms • Ultrasound - 3 obstetric rooms & 3 general
rooms
• Gamma camera
• One mammography unit and one breast
• One mammography unit and one breast ultrasound room
ultrasound room
• One cardiac catheter lab
• One Interventional Radiology theatre
• Fluoroscopy
• One cardiac catheter lab
• 2 Digital Radiography units, 1
• One fluoroscopy room Computerised Radiography Unit & 1
• Three Digital Radiography Units, two CR Digital OPG
rooms and a DR OPG • One digital mobile unit, two CR mobile
• Five CR mobile units, two DR mobile units units and three image intensifiers
and two image intensifiers • Bone Densitometry
• Bone Densitometry

Birmingham
Chest Clinic
• One computerised radiography unit
• One mobile x-ray unit

Introduction
Introduction to career in Imaging at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | 23
to aa Career