Overview of the Department:
The radiology (x-ray) department at Weston General Hospital provides a diagnostic service for the Trust and the wider community.
Operating under the Royal College of Radiology guidelines, the radiology department performs over 120,000 examinations a year, across all specialities.
The departments core opening times are 8am-6pm Monday-Friday, where we see the majority of our patients, although we are open 24/7 for emergency cases, for patients who come through A&E or as inpatients.
The Radiology department at Weston General Hospital is proud to have been QSI accredited since 2014. QSI is a patient-focussed assessment and accreditation programme that is designed to help diagnostic imaging services ensure that their patients consistently receive high-quality services, delivered by competent staff working in safe environments. To maintain this accreditation, we annually provide evidence to ensure we are meeting this excellent standard, to assure our patients and service users that we provide a high-quality service.
We encourage you to provide feedback on your visit to our department, so that we can improve the service we provide. There are various ways to give feedback - completing feedback cards, which can be provided by any member of staff within the department, giving verbal feedback, or through our radiology email address – wnt-tr.radiologyfeedback@nhs.net
For any further queries, or to discuss your appointment, please contact the department on 01934 636363 (ext. 3340 - Radiology Reception or ext. 3347 – Radiology Appointments).
Our Staff
There are 8 Consultant Radiologists in the radiology department. Complimented by a large team of highly skilled specialist Radiographers and support staff.
Radiologist: A fully qualified doctor who has spent a further 5 years of training to become a Consultant, and has a specialist expertise in taking and interpreting medical pictures.
Radiographer: A degree training professional, allied to medicine, responsible for both imaging and diagnostic.
Key Contacts:
Further Information:
Radiology Department,
Weston General Hospital,
Weston-Super-Mare
North Somerset
BS23 4TQ
Services we provide:
General X-ray
The largest proportion of the work we do comes through our 3 general x-ray rooms. In these rooms, our radiographers see A&E patients, inpatients, and patients who get referred by their GP or outpatient consultants, performing plain film x-rays covering areas such as the chest, pelvis, and broken bones.
All referrals are made electronically by your doctor/nurse. Once we have received the request, depending on the urgency of your x-ray request you will either be instructed to attend the department by your doctor, or receive an appointment for a later date through the post. Your doctor will ensure you know how you will attend for your x-rays.
As we see both emergency and routine patients throughout the day, patients may be taken out of order dependant on the urgency/clinical need. If there is ever a time we think you may have to wait longer than normal for your examination, we will inform you.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a form of diagnostic imaging that does not use ionising radiation (x-rays). Instead sound waves are used, which reflect from body tissues giving an image on the screen.
We perform many types of ultrasound scans in our department, from general ultrasound (abdominal areas), gynaecological, musculoskeletal (MSK), obstetric, breast, testes, thyroid and Doppler studies, with our sonographers and radiologists specialising in certain areas.
As with our x-ray service, requests are made for these examinations electronically by your GP, Nurse or Doctor. Dependant on the type of scan you require, you will either be telephoned for an appointment by our appointments team or be sent an appointment in the post. Sometimes we see patients who come through a clinic, such as early pregnancy or breast. Your doctor or nurse will make sure you know how you will attend for your ultrasound.
The ultrasound team also see emergency, in-patients and out-patients during the course of the working day. While we try to keep to appointment times, there may be instances where delays occur due to emergency scans needing to take place. If there are any delays to the time of your scan, we will inform you.
Mammography
Symptomatic Mammography - Breast imaging for patients who have been referred by their GP to the outpatient breast team is undertaken in our Mammography Suite, located in the radiology department. We see patients who come through both the breast one-stop clinics and also booked appointments.
Breast Screening Mammography - The National Breast Screening Programme for woman aged 47-73 is conducted on a mobile screening unit located next to the dialysis centre at the rear of the hospital. This service is run independently from the hospital, by Avon Breast Screening in Bristol.
However, it is possible for women who are unable to access the mobile unit to have their mammograms performed at Weston General Hospital. ABS will refer you directly to our department if this is the case.
Screen detected cancers from ABS will be referred into our department for any further imaging. All symptomatic patients and cancer follow-ups will also come into our department.
Computed Tomography (CT)
Our CT scanner is situated in the main x-ray department. CT is a type of cross sectional imaging which may be used for any part of the body.
We perform emergency, in patient, urgent and routine outpatient examinations on this scanner, as well as more specialised scans such as CT Colonoscopy, CT Cardiac and CT Guided Interventional Radiology.
Appointments for CT run from 8-6pm Monday-Friday, with a Saturday service provided from 9-5pm.
For more information on our CT Scanner Suite, please see the CT Scanner page.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Unlike the other examinations we provide at Weston, MRI does not use ionising radiation. Creating detailed images of the body, it allows the detection of many diseases. Our MRI scanner runs 9-5pm Monday-Friday, seeing both emergency patients and routine booked appointments.
As it uses a magnetic field, it is not suitable for every patient to have this type of scan performed. Patients who have pacemakers or metal in their bodies may not be able to be scanned at Weston General Hospital. We will provide you with a safety questionnaire to fill in prior to your appointment, where we can ensure you are safe to have the scan done.
For more information on our MRI scanner, please see the MRI Scanner page.
Fluoroscopy
Our fluoroscopy room uses dynamic imaging to look at the insides of the body. The primary use of this room is to use contrast media, such as barium, to highlight swallowing or bowel problems. This dynamic real time imaging also assists interventional procedures and enables endoscopists to view and perform intervention of the vessels that drain the liver. Our fluoroscopy room is also used for specialist joint injections.
Interventional Radiology
There is local expertise in the x-ray department to perform a wide range of interventional procedures. These procedures involve the use of scanning equipment or x-rays to perform biopsies (taking tissues samples) and other key-hole type procedures. These procedures can be used to treat patients and avoid surgery.
Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear Medicine is not performed at Weston General Hospital. If you require this type of examination, your doctor will refer you to Southmead Hospital in Bristol.
Other Services
Our x-ray department also supports other areas of the hospital by providing radiology services, such as the dental department, theatres and wards. We provide a DXA scanning service to support the rheumatology department.
The Radiology (x-ray) department at Weston General Hospital provides a diagnostic service for the Trust and the wider community.