Midlands Imaging Training Academy

In 2021, following the publication of the Richards Review for Diagnostic Services, a team made up of senior endoscopy clinicians, workforce leads in trusts, universities involved in endoscopy training, cancer alliance workforce leads, and Health Education England (HEE) came together to collaboratively design the model for a new Midlands Imaging Training Academy supported by national funding of £750,000.

Dr Ingrid Britton, Midlands Imaging Academy Director, Consultant GI Radiologist, UHNM

Ingrid graduated from Cardiff, and trained in Cardiff, Edinburgh and Glasgow with Consultant Radiologist posts in the East Midlands, ULHT, and West Midlands, UHNM.

Her teaching experience is as Royal College tutor in the East Midlands and TPD in the West Midlands, Honorary Senior Lecturer at Keele University and as faculty and co-director of the National CTC Training and Accreditation Programme.

Ingrid’s management experience was as CD of one of the first Radiology departments in the country to achieve QSI, and Divisional chair of Women’s, Children’s, and diagnostics at UHNM, with concurrent QA roles in the National bowel cancer screening programme as a professional clinical advisor for the Midlands and on the National Advisory group.

Her clinical subspecialty is in GI Radiology with research interests in post treatment assessment, novel staging for organ sharing surgery, and risk stratification for MRI liver screening in colorectal cancer.

She is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and a member of the British Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology.

Imaging Academy Hub and Spoke Model

The Midlands Imaging Academy will build on the existing expertise for imaging learning and training in the region with the following priorities:

• Increased training capacity across the region
• Multi-professional training across a team
• Flexible and high-quality training environments for clinical radiology, diagnostic radiography & sonography, & support staff
• Enabled immersive training in priority areas to support the rapid development of skills to support learning trajectory
• Making best use of available teaching faculty

Ultimately the aim is to increase the numbers of learners and increase the numbers of imaging staff able to enter the workforce, leading to reduced waiting lists and better patient outcomes.

For more information please take a look at our slide deck or contact Senior Project Manager Zena.Wynn-Jones@nhs.net

To find out more about our Sonography High Intensity Focused Training (SHIFT) you can download a presentation below.

Gastrointestinal Radiology entry level training

The Midlands Imaging Training Academy (MITA) has worked with the British Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (BSGAR) to produce a virtual learning programme on the 1^st Tuesday of each month starting from September. This is aimed at core radiology trainees (ST1-3) and can be accessed by all UK SpRs. To find out more and register, visit the BSGAR website.

Celebration of Innovation, November 2023

NHS England – Midlands has provided the funding to develop a new training model at the Midlands Imaging Training Academy (MITA), allowing one consultant to simultaneously train and supervise learners across all regional academy sites, giving other consultants more time to spend with patients.

The new electronics and picture archiving suite (EPACS)  is being piloted as a platform to develop AI learning and cooperation in imaging academies, with eye tracking teaching the AI algorithms based on human behaviours.

Using the newly installed XRNET high speed education network and state of the art EPACS workstations, it’s now possible for remote trainers to teach and observe trainees in real-time, and to link education facilities and other national academies to share and collaborate using high-definition imaging.

Dr Ingrid Britton, Midlands Imaging Training Academy Director and Gastrointestinal Radiologist, said: “The investment from NHS England has allowed us to upgrade our facilities to provide state of the art imaging training to our imaging staff, with the potential to link classrooms across the Midlands. This expands the capacity for training and has allowed us to increase the number of trainees providing diagnostic and therapeutic services to patients on emergency, elective and cancer pathways.

“The new simulation facilities for ultrasound supervision, CT and vascular diagnostic and interventional procedural work provide excellent learning practice to get students work ready for the fast-paced clinical environment.”

Tom Kirkbride, Regional Director for Workforce, Training and Education at NHS England – Midlands, said: “This model is an example of how we are investing in services as part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, to reform the way our healthcare staff work, harnessing new digital technology to allow them to focus on patient care.

“It is a huge benefit to patients, and we expect it to have a positive impact on winter pressures, as more of our imaging workforce can be trained by fewer consultants across a large geographical area, freeing up other consultants to have more time for patient care. Over time it should result in less travel time for clinicians to attend training, less costs to the NHS and lead to waiting lists being cut.

A recording of the event can be found here.