Our public consultation on draft guidelines for the justification of medical radiological procedures on asymptomatic individuals is open until 5pm on Wednesday, 18 December 2024.
These guidelines, when finalised, will apply to any person or organisation conducting medical radiological procedures, including individual professionals involved in providing medical radiological procedures in dental and medical settings.
Under Irish law, HIQA has been designated as the competent authority for medical exposure to ionising radiation. As such, we develop guidelines for justifying procedures that involve medical exposure to ionising radiation in people who have no known disease or symptoms, and where they are not part of a health screening programme.
Ionising radiation is used in both the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Technological developments in ionising radiation have led to improved patient outcomes due to better, faster diagnosis and more effective treatment. However, there are concerns that some technologies are overused with the potential that – for some individuals – the harms exceed the potential for benefit.
Dr Máirín Ryan, HIQA’s Deputy CEO and Director of Health Technology Assessment said: “All medical exposures to ionising radiation carry some risk. One of the main risks is the increased risk of developing cancer for the individual. When considering the use of ionising radiation to support screening and diagnosis of disease, the risks are generally considered to be low; however, other risks to consider include the possible detrimental impact for the individual of misleading or inaccurate results, as well as the healthcare resource use and opportunity cost to the healthcare system for additional investigations.”
You can read the draft guidelines and take part in the consultation on our website here.
(Pictured at the beginning of this article: Dr Máirín Ryan, Director of Health Technology Assessment)