Exploring the research domain of consultant practice: Experiences of consultant radiographers

• Consultant radiographers undertake research but have concerns about their research skills.
• Research aims to improve practice and patients' experiences.
• Relatively few consultant radiographers publish their work regularly.
• Consultant radiographers allocate little protected time for research due to clinical demands.

AimThis paper reports on one part of a larger study. The aim of the overall study was to explore what the core domain of research means to consultant radiographers in clinical practice and to identify the key factors that facilitate or hinder research activity by this staff group.Design and methodGrounded theory research methodology was employed. This second part of the study involved telephone interviews with twenty five consultant radiographers.ResultsResults indicate there are variations across clinical specialties as to the amount and level of research undertaken by consultant radiographers.The principal barriers revealed were: lack of time; excessive clinical workload; lack of skills and confidence to undertake research; poor research culture; and lack of support.The main facilitators noted were: dedicated time, research training and up-skilling; mutually beneficial collaborations; managerial understanding of the research domain of the role; and research focussed on clinical demand.ConclusionFulfilling the clinical role is imperative and integral to the profession at consultant level; however, if it is undertaken to the detriment of the other domains then these practitioners may not be operating at ‘consultant’ level. Overall improvements must be made to ensure that the consultant radiographer role is delivering on current expectations and is safeguarded for the future of the next generation of radiographers.