Professor Erika Denton is the National Clinical Director for Diagnostics at the National Health Service (NHS) England, with responsibility for clinical leadership, advice and guidance across the NHS and covering all diagnostic services. Diagnostic services make up 10% of NHS spending and over 1 billion tests are done every year. In the National Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) programme, she serves as Medical Director and Senior Responsible Owner, leading the process to move PACS to local NHS ownership, working with The Health and Social Care Information Centre.
Based in Norwich, Prof. Denton is Consultant Radiologist at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, where she practises clinically two days a week. She is Honorary Professor of Radiology at the University of East Anglia.
We asked Prof. Denton our 7 questions:
1. What are your key areas of interest and research?
Breast imaging and health policy.
2. What are the major challenges in your field?
Balancing a limited budget for diagnostics and increasing demand.
3. What is your top management tip?
You will never please all of the people all of the time.
4. What would you single out as a career highlight?
When I was first appointed to a national role as National Clinical Lead for Imaging.
5. If you had not chosen this career path you would have become a…?
It was a close run thing between medicine and architecture.
6. What are your personal interests outside of work?
My family, gardening, cooking, sailing, skiing.
7. Your favourite quote?
“Be ambitious – you can’t take two steps over a gap” - David Lloyd George.
From 2005-2013 Dr. Denton was National Clinical Lead, and subsequently National Clinical Director, for Imaging at the Department of Health, leading a complex programme of work across all aspects of imaging. This delivered considerable additional capacity for imaging services and marked reduction in waiting times. Her work has included cancer, paediatric, interventional, cardiac and forensic imaging. She continues to publish in breast imaging and health policy.
Dr. Denton was previously Divisional Clinical Director for support services, Director of Breast Screening and Head of Radiology Training in Norwich. Dr. Denton completed her medical training at St Thomas’ Hospital, London and then spent four years in general medical training before radiology training in London. She was a consultant radiologist at Kings College Hospital in London before moving to Norfolk in 1999.
MIR 2014: Radiology - a bright future?
Interview with British institute of Radiology
Denton ERE, Wivell G (2008) Skill mix and teamwork in imaging departments: redesigning the clinical team. IMAGING Management, 8(5): 12-13.
Based in Norwich, Prof. Denton is Consultant Radiologist at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, where she practises clinically two days a week. She is Honorary Professor of Radiology at the University of East Anglia.
We asked Prof. Denton our 7 questions:
1. What are your key areas of interest and research?
Breast imaging and health policy.
2. What are the major challenges in your field?
Balancing a limited budget for diagnostics and increasing demand.
3. What is your top management tip?
You will never please all of the people all of the time.
4. What would you single out as a career highlight?
When I was first appointed to a national role as National Clinical Lead for Imaging.
5. If you had not chosen this career path you would have become a…?
It was a close run thing between medicine and architecture.
6. What are your personal interests outside of work?
My family, gardening, cooking, sailing, skiing.
7. Your favourite quote?
“Be ambitious – you can’t take two steps over a gap” - David Lloyd George.
From 2005-2013 Dr. Denton was National Clinical Lead, and subsequently National Clinical Director, for Imaging at the Department of Health, leading a complex programme of work across all aspects of imaging. This delivered considerable additional capacity for imaging services and marked reduction in waiting times. Her work has included cancer, paediatric, interventional, cardiac and forensic imaging. She continues to publish in breast imaging and health policy.
Dr. Denton was previously Divisional Clinical Director for support services, Director of Breast Screening and Head of Radiology Training in Norwich. Dr. Denton completed her medical training at St Thomas’ Hospital, London and then spent four years in general medical training before radiology training in London. She was a consultant radiologist at Kings College Hospital in London before moving to Norfolk in 1999.
Further Reading
Lexa FJ, McGinty G, Adams MJ, Denton ERE, Duszak R, Ehara S, Forster BB, Galloway H, Kassing PJ, Marti-Bonmari L, Mildenberger P, Schouman-Claeys (2014) International perspectives on radiology practice metrics: Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and USA. J Am Coll Radiol, 11(11): 1081-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2014.07.031. Epub 2014 Nov 3.MIR 2014: Radiology - a bright future?
Interview with British institute of Radiology
Denton ERE, Wivell G (2008) Skill mix and teamwork in imaging departments: redesigning the clinical team. IMAGING Management, 8(5): 12-13.
