01246 277 271
Imaging is featured in nearly every patient’s healthcare journey and a person will have some kind of imaging throughout their life. Across our different services, the department carries out over 260,000 scans per year with more than 63,000 of these being done as outpatients. As a service, we aim to provide our patients with the very best imaging services through a professional, efficient, and friendly approach.
The imaging department provides a comprehensive range of diagnostic and interventional services across the main hospital site at Calow and community sites at Whitworth, Buxton and Walton. The community sites play a pivotal role in the Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs).
Imaging Services
- X-ray (plain Film X-rays)
- CT scanning
- Fluoroscopy (including interventional radiology)
- MRI Scanning
- Medical Physics (Nuclear medicine)
- Ultrasound
- Medical Illustrations (Medical Photography)
- Breast Imaging
- DEXA (Dual Energy Xray Absorptiometry)
The department provides services to adults and children from Chesterfield and regionally covering Outpatient, Inpatient, direct access from GPs, and emergency department services.
We employ Radiographers, Sonographers, Medical Technologists, Radiologists, Assistant Practitioners, Photographers, Clinical and general Assistants and Administrative and clerical staff.
The department participates in the training of student radiographers, radiologist registrars and trainee sonographers & assistant practitioners. They may be involved in your examination but under the supervision of a qualified/trained member of staff.
The Imaging department is open to appointments between the hours of 7.30am and 8.20pm, seven days a week. Any differences in these opening times are included within individual service pages. X-rays and CT Scans are available for emergencies and inpatients on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Referrals for any imaging examination need to be made from a qualified referring clinician or authorised non-medical referrer.
The Royal College of Radiologists' Imaging Referral Guidelines (iRefer) help referring clinicians determine the most appropriate imaging investigation for their patients.
Outpatient appointments are booked by our dedicated imaging appointment team, who are available on 01246 512627.
Depending on your type of scan, our imaging appointments team can also book appointments at Walton Hospital and Whitworth Hospital.
If you are referred for an Ultrasound, MRI or CT scan, you will be notified of this appointment by post. However, if you are referred for an X-ray, please call the Imaging Appointments team on the number above within 14 days of being referred to arrange. Please be aware, that the Imaging appointments team cannot provide scan results over the phone, these will be sent directly back to your referrer.
Medical Physics (nuclear medicine scan) appointments are arranged by the medical physics team.
All images obtained are securely stored on our centralised Picture Archive Communication system (PACS). This is a secure system that means that colleagues in hospitals and out in the community can instantly access images and reports. At CRH we also benefit from being part of the East Midlands Imaging Network (EMRAD). CRH is one of the 8 NHS trusts part of EMRAD.
Other Trusts in the network include.
- Nottingham University Hospitals
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals
- University Hospitals Derby and Burton
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals
- University Hospitals Leicester
- Northampton General Hospitals
- Kettering General Hospital
EMRAD was set up to share systems that allow clinicians to access the complete imaging record of their patients, including scans, reports, and clinical opinions within the EMRAD network. The key benefit is access to radiology experts and specialist services at different hospitals.
The use of the Image Exchange Portal (IEP) allows the imaging team to transmit and receive images from further afield. The use of EMRAD and IEP means that we can avoid delays and unnecessary repeated procedures.