The Quality Standard for Imaging

QSI – Quality Standard for Imaging 2021 / BS 70000

What is accreditation?

What is accreditation: The Quality Standard for Imaging (QSI) sets national quality criteria for imaging services. Services assess their performance against this standard and continually make improvements.  QSI is a collaboration between The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) and the College of Radiographers (CoR).  UKAS, United Kingdom Accreditation Scheme, accredits against the QSI 2021 standards as well as the BS 70000 standards.

QSI aims to improve the quality of care for people attending an imaging service. It sets out best practice to improve patient care and outcomes. Clinical practice is a continually evolving field. 

The UKAS accreditation assessment team is made up of trained assessors, external peers and a lay person led by the UKAS Assessment Manager, who together take a holistic approach to determine a service’s overall ability to consistently deliver the best possible service to its patients and users. More information can be found here: The Quality Standard for Imaging (QSI) and Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering Accreditation.

Medical Imaging has been accredited for 11 years. Each assessment cycle is a 4-year period, with annual evidence of our performance against the standards.  Evidence is reviewed by the assessment team, following which the assessment manager and other assessors will either visit onsite where further evidence is reviewed, practice observed and a variety of staff and patients across the department are spoken to or this is carried out remotely with specific members of the Medical Imaging team.

During 2023 the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) decided to end their relationship with UKAS as an accrediting body.  In July 2024 the Colleges launched their new “Quality Mark” scheme. 

The scheme focuses on quality improvement for imaging services for the benefit of both patients and their members. It is an investment by both Colleges in supporting services in delivering changes for the benefit of both patients and staff by engaging imaging services in continuous quality improvement through formal peer review. 

The Colleges are still assessing against the standards, but issue a “Quality Mark” rather than accreditation which currently can only be issued by UKAS. 

We remain under the accreditation scheme with UKAS where we will continue to be assessed and accredited to the BS 70000 and 2021 standards

This is a big team effort that the whole department is involved in (probably without even knowing) with the continued high standards that we work to.