The PACS Manager role...

As a former NHS PACS manager, I’ve sat within Radiology and within Digital/IT.

Not managing this structure correctly can cause real problems and can lead to bad feelings with the radiology department. Regardless of where the role sits in the organisation, I would spend a lot of time in the radiology department - however, the PACS manager role is not a clinical role.

My own thoughts are that it is largely an IT role. The PACS manager helps to ensure the right IT is in place, the right integrations, an efficient network, the right software and hardware.

It can also be argued that the best person to manage the cardiology imaging systems is the PACS manager. And what about the digital pathology systems?

If the role sits within digital, it can evolve to cover these additional systems. If it sits in Radiology, who then manages these other clinical imaging systems?

From a personal perspective, where I sat within the organisation was irrelevant as the job was the job. That said, when you sit in IT and the PACS admin team that you line manage are under radiology, well, it creates a unique set of problems, such as

Where does the training budget come from?

Who manages annual leave?

Confusion around where you belong.

My own experience is that the PACS manager and the PACS Admin team, ultimately, need to sit in the same department. But it's not always seen this way.