All 4ways reporting is undertaken by FRCR UK Consultant Radiologists who are qualified doctors with at least 2 years postgraduate experience followed by 5 years accredited training within the NHS. All have been listed on the GMC specialist register in Radiology for at least 2 years.

Our radiologists have held substantive NHS posts, meaning they understand the best practices in place within our NHS hospitals and Trusts. Importantly, it means they have experience in acute services too, meaning when urgent care is required, our radiologists know exactly what our trusts expectations are of them.

When joining 4ways, radiologists are engaged through a rigorous process, led by our Medical Director Ben Timmis and Clinical Leads. We use NHS revalidation evidence to ensure all of our radiologist remain of the highest quality. We support their professional development through CPD accredited activities, such as our Quality Assurance meetings and Case of the Month resources.

Radiologist Audit

The 4ways team, led by our Medical Director and CEO, meet on a weekly basis to review the quality of the reporting output being made by our radiologists.
In line with our radiologist output monitoring policy, we typically audit up to 10% of cross sectional reports, and up to 2% of plain film reports. Across a 12 month reporting period, all radiologists will be subject to audit on an ongoing basis in line with the following audit rates:

– By modality
– By service line
– By client
– By individual radiologist

Should we identify error rates, we implement our internal policies for breeches in individual performance output. This includes taking remedial action such as providing further training according to the significance of the error rate.

Client Audit

Assuring the quality of reporting output is actioned by 4ways’ established and extensive audit programme. Clinical audit underpins our statutory duties, compliance with sector standard (QSI), our quality assurance for clients and our market reputation. It also maximises the learning potential for our network radiologists and improves reporting precision.

We have an outstanding track record of measuring and reporting our clinical performance through our stand alone audit. 4ways is able to provide the most in-depth review and analysis of radiological reporting in the UK.

We audit up to 10% of cross sectional reports and up to 2% of all plain film reports for all work undertaken:
– By modality,
– By service line,
– By client,
– By individual radiologist.

We value and record all complaints and follow our complaints policy which identifies:

• The type of complaint
• The relevant process for responding to a complaint dependant on type
• The timeframes for each type of response
  
  We acknowledge all complaints and discrepancies within one working day. We investigate thoroughly and provide detailed feedback, including the actions we have taken to improve our systems. We provide a full response within NHS expected timeframes.
  
  At 4ways we recognise the impact good feedback has for our reporting Radiologists and staff, and encourage our clients to share any positive experiences they have when interacting with 4ways.
  
  We report all complaints, discrepancies and compliments back to our Leadership Team, Board, and accreditors during assessment.
  
  Overall trends will be analysed by the Quality Team, to inform our processes and programme of continual improvement, such as our CPD accredited learning resources for 4ways radiologists.

4ways has a dedicated Quality and Clinical Governance team, who are responsible for recording and managing incidents, complaints or discrepancies highlighted through our internal audit or by clients.

All discrepancies are logged on our bespoke Client Issues Register, which ensures we keep an accurate record for accessible reference.

Our Urgent Findings Escalation Policy follows RCR guidance and contains clear processes for escalation and notification of urgent and unexpected findings.

4ways holds 3 Quality Assurance (QA) meetings a year which are attended by senior clinical leadership, our CEO and our consultant radiologists. Discrepancies, interesting cases and positive feedback contributing to continual learning and improvement in their reporting output.