If you are a practitioner responsible for the justification of medical exposures involving the administration of radioactive substances, you must obtain a practitioner licence.

There are no fees for processing any practitioner applications submitted to the Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee (ARSAC).

Submit a new practitioner licence application to ARSAC

You should submit a new practitioner licence application if you have never held a licence.

Follow these steps to submit your application on the ARSAC online portal:

1. Complete a new practitioner licence application form including details of your training and experience that is relevant to the procedures you are applying for. You must sign and date your application form.
2. Create a new practitioner application on the ARSAC online portal. You will need to create an account if you do not have one already.
3. Complete all required questions and attach the application form and any other relevant documents such as training certificates. You can submit your application on the portal yourself or someone else can submit the form on your behalf. If someone else submits your application for you then you will need to set up your own password using your email address to get access to your application, respond to any queries and view your licence.
4. Further guidance on how to use the ARSAC online portal is available.

All communication will be made through the online portal, you will also receive email notifications when your application status changes.

If approved, your licence will be added to the portal for you to download.

Describing your training and experience

You must include relevant information on your training and experience when applying to ARSAC. The ARSAC notes for guidance detail the requirements for practitioner training in section 3.

Theoretical training can be achieved by completing a training programme in nuclear medicine, clinical radiology (with special interest in radionuclide radiology), or clinical oncology. If you have not completed a formal training programme, you will need to describe an equivalent level of training in your application.

There are different ways to demonstrate that you have sufficient training and experience and new opportunities to gain experience remotely are also available. Theoretical training can provide you with information on clinical indications, appropriate patient selection and reporting along with practical details on patient preparation, image acquisition and radiopharmaceutical considerations.

Examples of remote training opportunities include:

• webinars
• e-learning courses
• conferences
• scientific meetings
• online training sessions

Within your application, you should provide details of which training event you attended, the date of attendance, and a short summary of how it is relevant to the procedures you are applying for. You can attach training certificates to your application in the online portal.

In addition to theoretical training, you should provide information on your practical experience in your application. The amount of practical experience required will vary depending on the procedures that you are applying for and whether this is your first application or if you are amending an existing licence. ARSAC does not specify case numbers required to gain a practitioner licence however indicative numbers of cases are included in the Nuclear Medicine 2021 curriculum and these are a useful guide.

The experience you have gained should be enough for you to justify the procedures included in your application and support the day-to-day running of the service. Case numbers can be used to show that you have gained sufficient experience to deal with any patient management problems that may arise for both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. For diagnostic applications, your experience should not be limited to just reporting. Practical experience is usually obtained from supervised working or visits to centres that are already undertaking procedures. Where it is not possible to visit an external site, experience in some practical elements can be gained remotely.

Examples of remote experience opportunities include:

• take part in local protocol development
• discuss requirements with experts from other centres through online meetings
• join virtual MDT meetings
• virtual mentoring from another licensed practitioner
• remote consultations with patients

Within your application, you should include details of both face to face and remote training. For the range of procedures within your application you should include approximate number of cases, your level of involvement and the name of the practitioner under whose mentorship or supervision you have gained experience.

Amendments and renewals of practitioner licences

You should apply to ARSAC for an amendment to your existing licence when you want to:

• add a new procedure
• change the purpose of a procedure on your licence (for example, from research to diagnosis)

You can submit an amendment application at any time once you have gained a licence.

You should submit a licence renewal application to the ARSAC online portal at least 8 weeks prior to the expiry of your current licence. The renewal form is also the amendment form and therefore you can apply to add a procedure or change the purpose of a held procedure at the same time as submitting your renewal application to ARSAC.

Follow these steps to submit your application:

1. Complete a practitioner licence amendment and renewal application form including details of your training and experience that is relevant to the procedures you are applying for.
2. Create a practitioner amendment and renewal application on the ARSAC online portal. You will need to create an account if you do not have one already.
3. Complete all required questions and attach the application form and any other relevant documents such as training certificates. You can submit your application on the portal yourself or someone else can submit the form on your behalf. If someone else submits your application for you then you will need to set up your own password using your email address to get access to your application, respond to any queries and view your licence.
4. Further guidance on how to use the ARSAC online portal is available.

All communication will be made through the online portal, you will also receive email notifications when your application status changes.

If approved, your updated licence will be added to the portal for you to download.

Practitioner notifications

You should submit a notification to ARSAC using the ARSAC online portal prior to any material change in circumstances that may affect the validity of your licence.

Changes include, but are not limited to:

• change in appointment
• addition or removal of medical radiological installations where you are entitled as practitioner
• retirement or reduction in hours
• change of contact details
• removal of a procedure from your licence

Follow these steps to submit a notification:

1. Complete a practitioner notification application on the ARSAC online portal. You will need to create an account if you do not have one already.
2. Complete all required questions and attach the application form and any other relevant documents such as training certificates. You can submit your application on the portal yourself or someone else can submit the form on your behalf. If someone else submits your application for you then you will need to set up your own password using your email address to get access to your application, respond to any queries and view your licence.
3. Further guidance on how to use the ARSAC online portal is available.

ARSAC Support Unit

Email: arsac@ukhsa.gov.uk

Telephone: 01235 825006