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Radiographer incorrectly exposed child to '50 times more radiation during x-ray scan at Walsall hospital'

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date05 January 2022
Publication titleBirmingham Mail: Web Edition Articles (England)
Camilla Hewitt incorrectly administered 'adult levels' of radiation to two young patients -increasing their risk of getting cancer -during her five-month stint at Walsall Manor Hospital

She also took an x-ray of the wrong ankle of an adult patient which meant medics could have 'missed' their health concern.

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A Health and Care Professions Council disciplinary panel initially suspended her but has now said her fitness to practice is still impaired and she cannot work unsupervised.

Ms Hewitt selected adult radiation exposure instead of the correct paediatric setting for a child needing an abdominal x-ray on October 16, 2018.

The child was force to have a second x-ray but their family was told 'not to be concerned' by the low-risk incident.

An investigation was launched and an action plan drawn up, with Ms Hewitt claiming she would consider asking for help from colleagues to 'not get caught out again'.

She said: "I was rushing as the [child] was wriggling and crying and I wanted to ensure I exposed when they were still.

"I should have checked the exposure factors before positioning the patient and then before exposing.

"I could have asked for a pair of hands – one person positioning and one person behind the control panel ready to prep and two pairs of hands with a crying [child], nurse and relative is probably a good idea."

But the next month the radiographer -who was employed at the hospital through agency RIG Healthcare -administered adult doses of radiation to a second child.

The panel said: "[This] had the effect of increasing their potential to develop cancer.

"However upon analysis of the amount of over-exposure to radiation contained in the incident reports the risk of the patients developing cancer in the future was stated to be relatively minimal.

"However, the fact remains that the patients were put at risk of harm."

Just a week later, she then incorrectly took an x-ray of an adult's left ankle on November 27 -meaning the patient needed to have a total of...

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