Why are radiologists in the UK not using computers in their departments?

The value of administrative support computers in radiology departments has been evident, particularly in the United States, for more than a decade. It is difficult to understand why so little interest appears to have developed in this country; it is, perhaps, our inherent conservatism. The advent of the inexpensive microprocessor with a wide range of program packages has set the scene for an expansion of the use of computing in a wide range of clerical tasks. This article sets out to describe the various applications which we have demonstrated to be particularly suitable for incorporation into a computer system and suggests a number of additional applications which may be appropriate to particular radiology departments.