Radiotherapy Advisory Group
This is a group appointed by UK Council to provide profession specific advice about issues impacting upon therapeutic radiography and its context with
This is a group appointed by UK Council to provide profession specific advice about issues impacting upon therapeutic radiography and its context with
This is a group appointed by UK Council to provide profession specific advice about issues impacting upon therapeutic radiography and its context within cancer services, to UK Council.
Since its inception in 1995, the Radiotherapy Advisory Group (RAG) has made a significant contribution to the development of the profession and in raising its profile nationally. It is an effective voice for the community of therapeutic radiographers and the wider radiotherapy workforce.
The remit of the group includes:
To read more about RAG's purpose and remit, please see the Terms of Reference document.
The group meets twice a year at The Society of Radiographers headquarters.
| Contacts | |
|---|---|
Gill Hodges David Pilborough Ross McGhee Council Members | Spencer Goodman SCoR Professional Officer |
| Valerie Asemah Administrative Support | Gill Hodges Chair |
Contact Spencer Goodman for further information.
Angela is a Therapeutic Radiographer in the UK and has over 20 years’ experience in clinical radiotherapy. In Angela’s current role as Radiotherapy Operational manager at the Oxford Cancer Cen-tre, she provides professional leadership and effective manage-ment of the radiotherapy service. This role also includes leader-ship for technical innovation, development and implementation.
In previous roles at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Angela has initiated technological ad-vances across the radiotherapy pathway and has a deep under-standing of the issues relating to implementing new techniques – including IGRT and ART. The development of streamlined IGRT processes has been one of the endpoints of her research work and collaborations. Part of Angela’s previous role was to be course director for the European Varian IGRT clinical school. She is a member of the UK Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy consortium executive committee and National Cancer Research Institute Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Work-ing Group which have enabled evidence based practice and re-search to be introduced into clinical practice. She was previously the IGRT lead for the national Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assur-ance group working in a multi-disciplinary setting in the design and implementation of QA programmes for clinical trials involving IGRT/ART.
Angela has a special interest in project and change management, workforce planning including staff development to meet service needs and the development of training programmes to meet the service requirements.
Radiotherapy Advisory Group
Loryn Caulfield qualified as a Therapeutic Radiographer in 1998 in Cape Town, South Africa. After working at Groote Schuur Hospital for 3 years, she moved to Oxford to work at the Churchill Hospital in the Oxford Cancer Centre in December 2001. She was instrumental in the implementation of the HDR Gynae brachytherapy service and in 2015 she successfully gained the position of Consultant Therapeutic Radiographer, working with both external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy for gynaecological cancers.
She completed her MSc in Health Sciences in January 2020 and published her literature review “The perceived impact, challenges and barriers of advanced and consultant practice in therapeutic radiography” in the Radiography journal in February 2021. She has lectured for the undergraduate programme at the University of Hertfordshire and has taught as part of the Trust medical and clinical oncology registrars annual training programme. She has authored various publications, undertaken conference presentations at local and national level and taken part in a podcast on cervical cancer and the sexual effects of radiotherapy.
Along with a colleague she developed the Sexual Care after Radiotherapy clinic, currently the only radiographer–led clinic of its kind in the country. Loryn is passionate about supporting patients living with and beyond their cancer diagnosis and empowering health care professionals to talk to patients about the impact of treatment on their sexuality.
She is an “Ask the expert” for Jo’s cervical cancer Trust and an active member of the British Gynaecological Cancer Society (BGCS). She recently gained general membership of the CTRad working group and is a member of the newly created Late Effects special interest group (SIG). She maintains her role as a registered assessor for the Society and College of Radiographers involved in the accreditation and approval of advanced practitioner applications.
Trained as a Therapeutic Radiographer at the University of Hertfordshire graduating in 2007, following completion of a Psychology degree at the University of Birmingham. She returned to Birmingham in 2012 to complete an MSc in Clinical Oncology.
Currently working at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and is an SoR accredited advanced practitioner with expertise in the areas of brachytherapy, IGRT and gynaecology specialism.
She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and lectures on both the undergraduate and postgraduate Radiotherapy programmes at the University of Hertfordshire. She is currently working towards completing her MA in Education.
She maintains a keen interest in current professional issues through her involvement with the Radiotherapy advisory group (RAG).
Originally trained as a Therapy Radiographer at Birmingham City University qualifying in 2006. The majority of her career has been at UHCW Coventry, however in 2015 she undertook a Band 7 post at Worcestershire Acute General Trust in order to widen her scope of practice as a radiographer.
In 2017 Rebecca returned to UHCW Coventry where she undertook the role of SABR Lead Radiographer for the department. Earlier this year she took up a Part-Time Lecturer role with Birmingham City University whilst retaining a position as Radiographer at UHCW Coventry She is near completion of her MSc in Clinical Leadership in Cancer, Palliative and End of Life Care with the University of Southampton.
She is planning to research the benefits of Radiographer led Pre-hab and Post Treatment clinics for Chemo-Rad Lung Cancer patients for her dissertation. She maintains a keen interest in current professional issues through her involvement with the AI Advisory Group and looks forward to the exciting challenges this will present to the profession.
Therapeutic Radiographer
Shannon initially trained at the University of the West of England in Bristol and graduated in the summer of 2019. Throughout university, and as a qualified radiographer, Shannon has been very passionate about promoting and raising awareness of the therapeutic radiotherapy profession. Having been nominated for student therapeutic radiographer of the year and securing a scholarship at university to enable her to pilot her career outreach work in schools and colleges across the South West region.
In January 2020, Shannon presented her undergraduate dissertation findings at the Annual Radiotherapy Conference on “The Public’s Perception of Radiotherapy: An investigation into the awareness and recruitment crisis”. This work has driven her to continue with her passion for promoting the profession by being part of the work experience and outreach team within her department as well as becoming a Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics ambassador (STEM) and having her recent work published. After success through introducing the work experience programme into the her local team with fellow colleagues Shannon and the work experience team secured “Team of the Year” for the South West from SOR and the STEM inspiration award; being the first NHS trust in the country to have ever won!
Shannon maintains a keen interest in current professional issues through her involvement with the Radiotherapy Advisory Group, Action Radiotherapy Champions network and the National Radiotherapy Careers steering group. This enables her to keep up to date with professional issues, allowing discussions around the social, economic and political challenges that radiographers are facing within the profession.
As a practice educator Shannon has developed her knowledge to help students and staff, using her skills to initiate change in ways that best support students and recently qualified graduates. She has transferred these skills into both clinical and non-clinical settings by supporting, recruiting and retaining students and new professionals within radiography.
Shannon has completed a diploma in mental health, and attained key qualities including teamworking and leadership skills which have allowed her to promote positive mental health within the department. Shannon is an active member of her local wellbeing team and believes it is vital to support all patients and staff in mental and physical wellbeing.