Delivering informed measures of patient centred care in medical imaging: What is the international perspective?

Focus on patient experience and patient centred approaches within healthcare has substantially increased since the Picker Institute (a not for profit organisation) was established in the 1980’s (Picker Institute, 2021). Picker’s founding principles have been adapted from their original form, to keep pace with changes in health and social care, but remain the cornerstone of research and guidance on person-centred approaches.
Organisations such as the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, have developed their own guiding principles for patient centred care, reflecting the nature of the health care systems in their respective countries. In the UK professional, statutory and regulatory bodies governing health care professionals, such as the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and College of Radiographers, have also incorporated patient centred approaches and care into their Standards of Proficiency for registrants (HCPC, 2013; CoR, 2018).
As guidance and regulation linked to patient care and patient experience has become more widespread, interest in research into patient centred care and approaches has developed. Publications sharing the findings of research projects carried out to investigate patient experience during medical imaging examinations and radiation therapy have also increased.
In our research we have sought to define informed measures of patient centred care for medical imaging technologists, and to date have reported the findings from our UK based participant’s (Hyde & Hardy, 2020; Hyde & Hardy, 2021a; Hyde & Hardy, 2021b; Hyde & Hardy 2021c). In this commentary we would like to open up debate about the similarities and differences between UK and international views about patient centred care in medical imaging, and invite expressions of interest from potential collaborators.

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