title: The clinical practice of interventional radiology: a European perspective.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the current clinical environment in which interventional radiology (IR) is practiced throughout Europe. A survey, comprising 12 questions on IR clinical practice, was sent to 1800 CIRSE members. Members were asked to return one survey per department. Two hundred seventy-four departments returned completed questionnaires, 22% from the United Kingdom (n = 60), 11% from Germany (n = 30), 8% from Austria (n = 23), and the remainder spread over Europe. Experts, with more than 10 years of IR experience, comprised 74% of the survey group. Almost one-third of the radiologists dedicated more than 80% of their clinical sessions to IR alone (27%; n = 75), with two-thirds practicing in a university teaching hospital setting (66%; n = 179). Few institutions have dedicated IR inpatient hospital beds (17%; n = 46), however, to compensate, day case beds are available (31%), IR admitting rights are in place (64% overall, 86% for in-patients, and 89% for day cases), and elective IR admissions can be made through other clinicians (87%). IR outpatient clinics are run at 26% of departments, with an average of two sessions per week. Dedicated nurses staff the majority of IR suites (82%), but clinical junior doctors are lacking (46%). Hospital management's refusing access to beds was the most commonly cited reason for not developing a clinical IR service (41%). In conclusion, there is marked variation across European centers in the current practice of IR. Half do not have dedicated junior doctors and only a small minority have inpatient hospital beds. If IR is to be maintained as a dedicated clinical specialty, these issues need to be addressed urgently.
authors.affiliation: Department of Academic Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont Road, Dublin, 9, Ireland.
authors.forename: Aoife N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Keeling
authors.forename: Jim A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Reekers
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015642:Radiology, Interventional / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires