Health care workers are at high risk of coronavirus infection due to direct contact with patients and the predominant airborne COVID-19 transmission route. Radiographers are among the first-line medical personnel to come into contact with patients who have fallen ill. Lack of a technician directly affects the radiology departments’ performance, as it requires either a search for a new employee or a radiologist to perform the examination, which slows down work and increases the risk of stopping the department.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the change in the proportion of dropped out radiographers after the department division into «clean» and «dirty» zones.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Radiographers and other medical personnel performing patient positioning (aides) were included in the study. Dropped out employees were divided into three groups: Group 1 — radiographers before the implementation of outpatient CT-centers (working in the scan room and control room at the same time from 01.02.20 to 10.04.20); Group 2 — radiographers in outpatient CT centers (did not contact patients, working in the control room, a «clean» area, from 11.04.20 to 24.06.20); Group 3 — aides (welcomed and positioned the patients on the CT table, working in the scan room, a «dirty» area, from 11.04.20 to 24.06.20). The study included medical staff in Moscow city outpatient clinics, working in computer tomography rooms from 01.02.20 to 24.06.20. We excluded outpatient CT centers employees where Group 2 had contact with Group 3 (automatically contaminating the second group) or incomplete data points from the study.

RESULTS

Before the pandemic, 90 radiographers (71 women and 19 men, mean age 52.97±5.31 years) worked in outpatient CT rooms. The total number of nursing staff during the pandemic was 201 people. In Group 2, the share of temporary leaves was 8.7%. In Groups 1 and 3, it was 42.2 and 38.8%, respectively. As a result, the proportion of dropped out radiographers after the introduction of outpatient CT centers decreased by 33.5% compared to the period before the deployment of outpatient CT centers.

CONCLUSION

Changes in the workflow of the radiology departments during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a justified increase in the number of CT room staff by introducing aides, termination of radiographers’ contacts with patients to reduce the risk of infection, a decrease of the department shutdown risk, and also served as a basis for increasing the capacity by splitting the functionality of a single unit, which usually rests on the shoulders of a single employee.