Diagnostic Imaging • 4 mins read
By Laura Booth, Operations Accreditation Specialist.
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Every year on 8 November, World Radiography Day marks the anniversary of Wilhelm Roentgen’s discovery of X-rays and celebrates the vital contribution of radiographers and imaging professionals to patient care. It also serves as a reminder of the trust placed in diagnostic imaging—trust that depends on quality, consistency and safety at every stage of the imaging process.
Every image tells a clinical story. Accreditation to BS 70000 helps ensure the science behind that story—equipment performance, image quality, radiation dose optimisation, and staff competence—is reliable, consistent and safe across diagnostic imaging services.
Why trust in imaging matters
From plain film X-rays to complex CT, MRI, ultrasound and nuclear medicine, imaging informs decisions at almost every stage of the patient pathway. The value of a diagnostic image rests on the quality of the processes that produce it: robust equipment performance, validated protocols, competent people and effective governance. Accreditation provides independent assurance that these foundations are in place and working consistently. Imaging teams are deeply committed to patient care. Accreditation recognises that commitment and demonstrates, independently, that services are delivering quality and safety day in, day out.
What is BS 70000?
BS 70000:2017 — Medical physics, clinical engineering and associated scientific services in healthcare: Requirements for quality, safety and competence is the national standard that sets out what ‘good’ looks like for scientific and technical support to healthcare, including diagnostic imaging physics. It defines the systems, controls and competencies needed to deliver safe, high-quality services.
At UKAS, accreditation to BS 70000 is delivered through the Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering (MPACE) programme, which covers disciplines such as diagnostic radiology and medical physics, equipment management and clinical measurement.
How BS 70000 accreditation supports quality in diagnostic imaging
1) Assured equipment performance across the lifecycle
Accredited services apply controlled processes from procurement and acceptance testing through to commissioning, routine quality assurance (QA), corrective action and decommissioning. This reduces variation, minimises downtime and helps maintain image quality over the equipment lifetime.
2) Dose optimisation and safety
For ionising modalities (X-ray, CT, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine), accredited services embed radiation protection, diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), and evidence-based optimisation, aligning with the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (IR(ME)R), Ionising Radiation Regulations (IRR)and current national guidance.
3) Image quality that clinicians can trust
Routine QA and periodic image-quality audits verify that protocols deliver the required spatial, geometric and contrast resolution, Signal to noise (SNR) performance and consistency across different equipment and sites—critical for comparative reporting and longitudinal follow-up.
4) Competence, training and role clarity
BS 70000 requires that roles are defined, and staff are trained, authorised and kept current through CPD, supervision and competency assessment—whether they’re medical physicists, clinical engineers, radiographers working on QA tasks, or informatics specialists supporting PACS/RIS.
5) Governance, risk and continual improvement
Accredited services operate a documented quality management system: non-conformities are investigated, actions are tracked, change control is applied to protocols and software, incidents feed learning, and management reviews drive improvement.
6) Traceability and measurement assurance
From dose meters to test tools and phantoms, measurements are calibrated and traceable to national standards, ensuring comparability over time and across sites—vital for networked services and research-active centres.
What this means for patients, clinicians and boards
- For patients: confidence that the scan guiding their care has been produced under controlled, safe and continually improving conditions.
- For clinicians and multidisciplinary teams: consistent image quality and dose optimisation across rooms, sites and modalities; fewer repeat examinations; defensible protocols.
- For executive teams and commissioners: board-level assurance on clinical risk management, compliance, and value from capital assets—supported by independent, internationally recognised accreditation.
The accreditation journey: what to expect
- Define your scope – e.g., diagnostic radiology, Radionuclide Imaging, Medical Physics, equipment management, multi-site networks.
- Gap analysis and readiness – review current QMS, QC schedules, calibration, competence records, IR(ME)R interfaces and change control.
- Assessment – UKAS technical assessors evaluate your system and practice against BS 70000, observing work, sampling records and speaking with staff.
- Findings and improvement – address any non-conformities with targeted corrective actions.
- Accreditation and surveillance – once granted, maintain and improve through periodic surveillance and re-assessment.
For services already engaged with imaging quality initiatives, much of the culture and documentation is in place; BS 70000 accreditation adds independent confirmation of competence and control, especially around physics, engineering and measurement assurance.
Accreditation scales well across networks and multi-vendor fleets, providing consistent QC, harmonised protocols and transparent performance metrics. UKAS continues to see strong engagement from both NHS and independent providers in diagnostic imaging accreditation pathways.
On World Radiography Day, a thank you
To every radiographer, technician, assistant practitioner, sonographer, radiologist, medical physicist, clinical scientist, clinical engineer and imaging manager: thank you. Your work brings clarity to complex clinical questions. Accreditation to BS 70000 helps ensure the science and systems behind that work are worthy of the trust patients place in you.