Patients Exposed to Less Radiation During X-Rays
The Health Protection Agency has revealed that patients are being exposed to less radiation during X-rays, but that the dose of radiation varies according to the hospital.
A survey by the Health Protection Agency, which relates to 2006-2010, found that doses of radiation have continued to fall, although there are still variations between different hospitals. The survey does not contain data about CT scanners, which are covered in a separate study.
The survey revealed that doses were on average, around 10 percent lower than the previous results from 2005 and approximately 50 percent lower than average values in the 1980’s.
Steve Ebdon-Jackson, head of the medical exposure and radiation department at the Health Protection Agency, said that the UK was a leader, consistently reducing radiation doses for medical and dental X-rays and prioritising patient health and safety.
The results of the survey have been published in a report entitled, Doses to Patients from Radiographic and Fluoroscopic X-ray Imaging Procedures in the UK- 2010 Review where researchers compared X-ray doses for patients in 320 hospitals and more than 4,000 dental practices.
Around 15 percent of the UK’s total annual radiation dose comes from equipment used for medical diagnosis and treatment.
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