Technical recalls and technical repeats: evaluating the effect of the Occupational Standards/Skill Mix project

As a pilot site for the Occupational Standards/Skill Mix project, it was agreed at the outset that one of the evaluation criteria would be the effect the project had on our technical recall and technical repeat rate. In particular, concern has been raised that trained assistant practitioners may have a higher technical recall/repeat rate than trained radiographers.

Technical recall and repeat data are routinely collected and documented by all mammographers working within our service and stored on the National Breast Screening Computer System (NBSS). These data are analysed monthly for technical recall rate, technical repeat rate and overall rate, including individual mammographers' rates, using a co-writer report from NBSS.

We are currently performing a detailed evaluation of these rates for the 3-month period following the completion of the project, specifically comparing the technical recall/repeat rates of the two newly trained assistant practitioners with two newly trained radiographers, to see if the concern is justified.