Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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438. To ask the Minister for Health if the Health Research Board is conducting a scoping review for his Department on advanced practice physiotherapy grades and physiotherapists as referred to for the purposes of x-rays and imaging; if so, the terms of reference for such a review; the estimated timeline for such a review; the details of any consultative process that would follow including an organisation (details supplied) once the review has been completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46612/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM (the BSSD), insofar as it relates to the designation of referrers, was fully transposed by the European Union (Basic Safety Standards for Protection Against Dangers Arising from Medical Exposure to Ionising Radiation) Regulations 2018 (S.I. No. 256 of 2018). These regulations designate those who may refer for radiological tests; nurses, doctors, dentists and radiographers are designated as appropriate.

On behalf of the Department, the Health Research Board is undertaking an evidence brief titled Radiological Tests: Who can refer? What does the evidence say? An Evidence brief. An evidence brief is a type of literature review that is particularly suited to describing international approaches to health policy or implementation. This particular evidence brief aims to describe international policy and practice relating to referral for radiological tests in a selection of other jurisdictions which includes New Zealand, Canada (Alberta), England and Sweden.

The research questions include:

- Describe which professionals permitted to refer/prescribe radiological tests (other than medical practitioner, nurses, radiographers, dentists). To include job titles, specific skills and qualifications to refer/prescribe radiological tests, monitoring and supervision arrangements in the selected countries.

- With regard to the above professionals identify and describe the relevant Standard Operating Procedures, protocols, advanced clinical practice guidelines, or governance principles in place in the selected countries.

- Identify and describe the advantages and disadvantages (risks) of the above professionals referring radiological tests as reported in the literature for the selected countries.

The evidence brief was requested by the Strategic Workforce Planning Unit in the Department of Health and is provided through an evidence synthesis service, operated by the Research Services and Policy Unit of the Department in collaboration with the Health Research Board (HRB), which is designed to support evidence-informed decision making in the Department of Health.

The timeline for delivery of a draft evidence brief report is in Quarter 3 of 2022. The evidence brief is a type of literature review, it does not include consultation with stakeholders in Ireland. The findings of this evidence brief will be considered by the Department before any subsequent actions are planned.