Since December, 2022, the Fever Clinic and Department of Emergency have been confronting a large number of patients, which means an ever increasing number of radiological examinations. Facing the double tests of more patients and  shorthanded circumstances, the Department of Radiology, driven by their sense of responsibility and mission as medical professionals, still delivers high-quality medical services and imaging reports.

The team of radiographers at Radiology devote a lot in order to maintain the 34 posts at 10 sites of the hospital function smoothly as usual. Over the past month, the surge in workload has immediately put the already busy Radiology into a “wartime” state. “No one shies away from their responsibilities and we have each other’s back. Together, we ensure that radiological examination workflow can proceed in an orderly manner.” At the Fever Clinic and Department of Emergency, a radiographer needs to serve 300-400 patients a day, which makes their average daily workload 3-4 times higher than before. To decrease the odds of infection, the four technologists in the Fever Clinic rotate in a closed loop.

Meanwhile, radiologists have to read 5-10 times as many films in a single day as before. Three young female physicians, namely Liu Zeyu, Zhao Ruijie and Qi Yafei, are chief residents taking shifts every other day, and being responsible for emergency consultation and unexpected situations, and also informing various kinds of notices, announcements and scheduling to each staff. Even when they were infected by COVID-19, they did not take a day off. Every night at 11 p.m., the reading room was still well-lit.

Under the leadership of Executive Deputy Director Feng Feng, the Department of Radiology vigorously adjusts its scheduling tactics. One measure is “attendings sharing the workload of residents”. She also flexibly adjusts schedule table to assign more personnel to the first line such as the Fever Clinic and Department of Emergency. Another challenge is how to ensure the error-free and high-quality imaging reports under high work intensity? Advocated by Director Feng, the department adopts multiple regular programs to implement quality control and increase expertise, such as group learning of professionals and review of misdiagnosed cases.

A radiographer was positioning a patient before the examination

Written by reporter Hong Chengwei

Photographed by Sun Liang

Translated by Liu Haiyan

Edited by Wang Fengdan and Wang Yao