Serratia marcescens: A case history to illustrate the value of radiographer history taking in the face of poor health professional communication

The radiographer is often the only point of contact that a patient may have with the Medical Imaging team. Assessment of the patient by the radiographer is a role that has tacitly and historically occurred in most practice, though in this age of litigation and heavy workloads it is prudent to suggest that a formulated approach should be adopted. This may occur in undergraduate education and be developed in the postgraduate forum such that good imaging is performed and appropriate extra information reaches the radiologist that may often be lacking in the referral historical details. This case based article uses an unusual presentation of osteomyelitis to illustrate where radiographer patient assessment, communication and teamwork could have contributed to a more rapid and hence higher quality experience for one situation, and also demonstrates the difficulties of eliciting information locked in the memories of patients.