Can radiographers read screening mammograms?

AIM: To evaluate the ability of radiographers to read screening mammograms in the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two radiographers read a test set of 1000 screening mammograms previously reported by a consultant radiologist. Three radiographers then acted as a second reader for 54,000 screening mammograms, their recall results are presented. Four consultant radiologists and three film reading radiographers were timed while reading 2500 mammograms each. RESULTS: When reading the test mammograms the two radiographers recalled all the cancers previously detected by the radiologist at the original screen read. They also recalled 32/90 women who subsequently presented with interval cancers. As a second reader the radiographers had similar recall and cancer detection rates to the radiologists (P > 0.05). Double reading detected 9% more cancers. The radiographers take the same length of time to film read as radiologists (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Radiographers are able to read screening mammograms at least as well as radiologists and do not take longer to do so.