In this section
In This Section
Comprised of two distinct celebrations, the Radiography Awards spotlights members who have been identified as Radiography Professional or Representative of the Year for their region or country. This year the overall UK winners for each category, as well as the Patient's Choice Award for Exceptional Care, were announcecd at the ceremony.
Patient's Choice Award
The Patient's Choice Award for Exceptional Care recognises an individual or team who demonstrates the positive impact their practice has on the patient experience.
Selected by the SoR | CoR Patient Advisory Group (PAG), winners of this accolade are being thanked for enhancing patient care, whether through empathetic communication or service innovation.
The 2023 winners were presented with their awards by Philip Plant, PAG Chair.
Cardiac CT Radiographers | NHS Western Isles in Scotland (Team Award):
Sean O'Conaire | Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (Individual Award):
To learn more about the work of the PAG, please see here.
Winner Biographies
Please continue reading to learn more about the Radiography Awards 2023 winners for Radiography Professional of the Year, Team of the Year, Student of the Year and Representative of the Year.
Professional
I qualified as a diagnostic radiographer in 1998, and have subsequently specialised in Gastro Intestinal Advanced Practice for the past 20 years. I undertake and report upper and lower GI fluoroscopy procedures, and have expanded my role to include CT colonography. I’m proud to be a radiographer and advanced practitioner, and I firmly believe that advanced practitioner radiographers are best placed to lead patient centred service improvement.
I’m very fortunate to work amongst great multi-disciplinary teams across the Mid and South Essex NHS trust, who also share my passion for putting patients at the centre of everything we do.
I trained at the Wolverhampton School of Radiography, qualifying in 1986 and started work that year at Selly Oak Hospital Birmingham. Gaining experience in all aspects of general radiography, I completed Pg Certs in Radionuclide imaging and to undertake Barium Enemas.
In 1999, I moved into Interventional Radiology where I continue to practice. In 2003 I extended my role to undertake peripheral angiography and angioplasty. Shortly after, my protocol was extended to include the insertion of stents and vascular closure devices. By 2007 my role also encompassed line insertions, venograms, fistulograms, venoplasties and fistuloplasties for the Renal service.
When in 2010 Selly Oak Hospital closed and relocated to Queen Elizabeth Hospital I went along too and still work there to this day. My current role still involves me being hands on “driving x-ray equipment”, whilst also training radiology registrars who are new to Intervention and I have trained a colleague to work alongside me in offering a daily radiographer led line insertion service, for renal, haematology and oncology patients.
My career has seen me working my way to a band 8a Advanced Practice Radiographer IR and I am now looking to retire in April 2024. Therefore, I am in the process of training another radiographer to allow this line service to continue at its current level. Back in 1986 I could never have imagined where my career would take me; I love my extended role and feel lucky and privileged to have reached this point. I work within a fantastic team who make it possible for me to do the job that I do.
I have been a practising Diagnostic Radiographer since 2006, after graduating from Portsmouth University. My first job as a new graduate was at the Royal Free Hospital in London, where I planned to stay for a year or so before moving back to my hometown. Seventeen years later I am still in London, now working for Kings College Hospital London.
I have been very fortunate to be supported through my clinical practice in a range of modalities, qualify as reporting radiographer, gain invaluable experience in leadership and management rolls and undertake a partial secondment with Health Education England.
I thoroughly enjoy supporting others to achieve their goals, continue to practice clinically with the team and provide services for our patients to the best of our ability.
My name is Amy Bellamy, I have been a radiographer for 23 years and currently work as an Advanced Practitioner Radiographer at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. In my early career I was influenced by a Consultant Radiologist specialising in Urology. My first advanced practice role was reporting IVU examinations, from there I have progressed to performing and reporting paediatric Micturating Cystograms, specialist urology procedures including nephrostomy and ideal conduit stent changes and HSG’s. I am currently completing in-house training in the performing and reporting of proctogram examinations. Academically I have completed multiple PG Certificates and gained my Masters qualification in Medical Imaging back in 2014.
My career path did not proceed quite as I had planned due to a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015. This diagnosis was life changing and I now had to focus on myself. I returned to work following chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy and picked up where I left off. Then in 2021 I was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer, which was devastating. Once more chemotherapy was needed. But again, I have returned to work carrying out full duties, caring for my patients as I would like to be cared for. I love my job, my colleagues and my patients and am eternally grateful to their support and to the NHS as a whole.
Sean O Conaire is the Imaging Service Manager and Sites Co-Ordinator in the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, the largest integrated Trust in the United Kingdom.
Sean hails from Spiddal, a small village in the Irish speaking area of Conemara in County Galway. Sean has since traded the west coast of Ireland for the north coast, and now resides with his wife Maria and three children in Portrush, near the Giant’s Causeway.
Sean studied in Glasgow Caledonian unviersity and qualified as a Diagnostic Radiographer in 1999. He worked at Monklands District General Hospital in Lanarkshire, Scotland before travelling and working in New Zealand. In 2004, Sean accepted a Radiographer post in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. He quickly specialised and was appointed as the Lead Radiographer in the Cardiac Catheterisation Labs. He went on to serve as the Assistant Service Manager in Cardiology, Cardiac Cath Labs.
Sean took up his current position as Imaging Service Manager within the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in 2015, and since then he has influenced, developed and delivered Imaging services to meet the growing needs of the population of Belfast and Northern Ireland.
He was appointed in 2017 as one of 6 Site Coordinators in the Belfast Trust providing support to all Divisions in the management of flow and patient safety throughout the Trust.
He is passionate about improving the quality of care offered to patients: this is reinforced by his qualification from the Scottish Improvement Leadership programme.
He prides himself on maximising the potential of over 500 staff within his service. Sean has reduced waiting times, increased capacity, introduced new services for patients, all whilst supporting important clinical developments in all of the regional specialities which are supported by the Imaging Service. Currently owrking to develop a regional 24/7 Thrombectomy service to minimise the effect of stroke on patients in the absence of additional investment demonstrates Sean’s sheer determination to provide the highest standard of care for patients in the region.
During his time as Imaging Service manager, he has raised the profile of advanced roles in Mammography, Interventional Radiology, reporting radiographers and reporting sonographers.
Leading the service to accreditation under the Quality Standard for Imaging in 2022, evidences Sean’s committed progression of the service’s governance framework, and compliance with and surpassing national benchmarking.
Sean provides value-driven leading from a deep sense of purpose and responsibility to create positive change and to provide the best possible service for patients requiring diagnostic or interventional imaging across the region of Northern Ireland.
When not navigating and developing the Imaging service, Sean, loves spending time doing crossfit or spending time with his family enjoying lots of outdoor and water based activities.
Lucy is a therapeutic radiographer with over 15 years of clinical experience. She began her post as a colorectal specialist radiographer in 2010 and gained her Masters in Advanced Practice. Lucy then built on this, bringing others with her, and over a period of professional time and personal investment she progressed to a consultant practitioner status. Lucy has made significant contributions to our profession, including being the first radiographer to prescribe blood transfusions. Lucy has led education frameworks and has also developed patient group directives to improve workflow, cost efficiencies and patient experience. She organised an advanced clinical practitioner/ Consultant practitioner Oncology Event for our region, leading nursing, and allied health professional teams to develop and value opportunities. Lucy is passionate about her professional role and continues to support and champion enhanced, advanced and consultant practice roles within radiotherapy locally, nationally, and internationally.
Throughout my time as a student, I witnessed first-hand the invaluable benefit of having a supportive and influential radiographer to offer support and guidance. After qualifying in 2019, I quickly realised my passion lay in practice education. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I developed my academic role through a postgraduate degree and SoR Practice Educator accreditation. More recently, my career has taken a different route, as I have undertaken employment as a part-time lecturer at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. I have ensured I maintain a clinical role throughout, so as to keep my knowledge current, and to remain the radiographer students look up to, as I once did.
I am deeply honoured to have been nominated for the Radiography Professional of the Year award for the South East region. As MRI superintendent at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, one of the big pleasures and challenges of my role is MRI teaching and training. At the moment, it's not always easy to recruit qualified MRI staff. I also like to help rising radiographers in our trust gain MRI skills, develop their careers, and serve our local community more effectively.
I created MRIMaster.com after watching some of our trainees rifling through tattered textbooks and applying for expensive courses to try and consolidate what they were learning in our MRI department. The lack of systematic, easily accessible MRI teaching was clear to me - so with a few colleagues, I got to work to fill the gap.
Fast forward nearly a decade, it is heartening to witness the growth of MRIMaster.com. It now serves not only radiographers in the UK but has expanded its reach globally, boasting a user base of over 300,000 per month. Amidst juggling familial responsibilities and a demanding professional life, I have been able to enrich the site with content covering over a hundred scanning techniques, artifacts, physics, and cross-sectional anatomy and pathology. Additionally, our YouTube channel and dedicated app ensure that radiographers have swift and dependable access to MRI learning resources.
As I continue my endeavours, the site is on an expansion trajectory. It's undeniable that digital learning is the future. I am hopeful that my contributions have played a role in enhancing this medium for the MRI community, both in the UK and globally.
I trained as a diagnostic radiographer at the University of Leeds, completing my training in 2007. I started work at Musgrove park hospital, Somerset Foundation Trust as a newly qualified radiographer that same year.
Early in my career I became interested in education and trained as a clinical assessor. I had the opportunity to be seconded as a clinical tutor for the University of Exeter, from 2010 until 2015. In this role I supported the radiography students whilst they were out on placement throughout the South-west.
In recent years I have had the pleasure of working closely with two higher educational institutes and the implementation of new courses: The undergraduate diagnostic imaging degree apprenticeship at the University of Exeter and the diagnostic imaging undergraduate programme at the University of Plymouth.
I became the Practice Educator for Somerset Foundation Trust in February 2020, supporting undergraduate learners, apprentices, and clinical assessors. A role which allows me to work closely with all the learners and deliver clinical teaching alongside my clinical interventional radiographer role.
I live in Taunton with my husband, two children and two cocker spaniels.
Jo McNamara is a therapeutic radiographer, with over 20 years' worth of experience working within oncology.
Jo works in education, lecturing on oncology across health and social care at Sheffield Hallam University.
In 2020, Jo was the National Therapeutic Radiography Clinical Fellow at Macmillan and worked on the PRosPer project educating health care professionals about the role of prehabilitation, rehabilitation and personalised care in oncology. This passion has continued forwards into research, publications and creating an MSc module for oncology specialists.
Jo is the Radiotherapy chair for the UK Acute Oncology Society, the chair for the SoR Promotion and Outreach Special Interest Group, a Radiotherapy UK Ambassador and the Yorkshire healthcare professional lead for 5K Your Way and Move Charity.
Jo runs Rad Chat, a multi award winning oncology podcast and social media channels with her colleague Naman Julka Anderson.
I’m Leah Cox and I’m delighted to win this award for Wales, thank you.
I have worked in many UK RT centres, Toronto, and Calgary Canada before finally settling back home in beautiful North Wales, working in the North Wales RT department, now as lead review radiographer and HB Head and neck cancer lead.
I’m a full time therapeutic Radiographer and mum of 3; juggling the needs of a busy home and work is challenging for anyone, will never claim to have cracked it… but my family have always been proud of me studying/leading and improving the service for cancer patients. I’d like to think my kids will also feel they can make a difference in their careers through hard work, determination and compassion.
I’ve always had an interest in the management of head and neck cancer patients, and therefore I relished the opportunity to apply to work with NICE, representing ‘Radiotherapy’, developing Head and neck cancer clinical guidelines nearly 10 years ago, and still remain an expert advisor. I did this while studying for my Masters, for which I gained a distinction in ACP.
I then stepped forward to apply to co-lead the Welsh Head and Neck cancer clinical steering group at a National level, and did this for 18 months until I saw an opportunity to lead our own health boards (BCUHB) head and neck cancer MDT and chair MDT. I’m the only non-medic lead in our HB, it’s been so rewarding and at times very challenging. Our centre, like many others has faced staff shortages, particularly clinical Oncologists. I became very concerned about this impact and how we would be able to treat our Welsh patients in Wales. I suggested and modelled a ‘hybrid’ pathway, with Consultants from Liverpool to keep our patients treatment close to home, this involved re thinking conventional referral pathways, review and follow up.
In my leadership HB role my priorities are varied from process mapping referral channels to tertiary centres , auditing, understanding ‘pinch points’ and anticipating changes required to overcome.
One of my challenges was to organise our first ever Education day, for governance and morale and last November, feedback demonstrated it was a success; it was a great opportunity to connect our surgical and Oncology teams with wider MDT outside of an MDT, promote research, audit or interesting case studies, and I’m delighted that it was successful and I’m now finalising agenda for next month second one. I believe that all improvements stem from a healthy culture.
To conclude, I’m very thankful to receive this award, and it’s thanks to wonderful work colleagues and RT manager who have truly gone above and beyond these last couple of years with me.
Diolch yn fawr
Team
The Diagnostic & Therapeutic Radiography Course Team at UoS are responsible for the planning and delivery of all the radiography programmes at UoS, these include:
- BSc (Hons) Therapeutic Radiography
- BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography
- MSc Diagnostic Radiography (pre-registration)
- PgC Computed Tomography (CT) Colonography
- PgC CT
- PgC Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- PgC Paediatric Radiography
- PgC Reporting of the Chest
- MSc Professional Practice: Advanced Radiography Practice [Progression Route]
The team have worked hard over the past few years to develop our post-graduate provision. Our National Student Survey (NSS) results have improved due to the hard work and dedication of the team. They are a cohesive team and support one another and the students. Several staff members have had publications and conference presentations, and most of them are studying as well as working.
There are 10 diagnostic radiography team members; Hollie Hadwen, Chris Cobb, Jerome Atutornu, Deana Hazeldene, Nancy Sims, Jo Shuttlewood, Gemma Spelman, Gemma Vass, Joseph Purdey & Imogen Diggens, and three therapeutic radiography team members; Caroline Doolan, Zoe Grant & Michael King.
The Diagnostic Imaging Team at Birmingham City University is well-established with ultrasound educators, with most staff still active as sonographers in clinical practice. We are a diverse group, with each individual bringing fresh ideas while benefiting from the guidance of experienced academics; this has fostered a strong bond between us. This mix of experience across different ultrasound specialities and academia allows us to maintain and engage with current practice and this has lead to a strong team member bond, and combined with the robust support in place from the Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences at the University, of which we are part, has meant we receive consistent praise from our students and partners for our ability to collaborate with them in developing their skills, knowledge and understanding.
The ultrasound provision has grown significantly, so we now have an extended offer combined with our flexible delivery mode is designed to accommodate our workforce needs across the wider Midlands and nationally. Our ultrasound simulation suite has further enhanced the hands-on training we offer and enable us to introduce new teaching methods.
Our staff are at the forefront of imaging education, as reflected by our status as a Midlands Imaging Academy Hub. As a Midlands Imaging Academy Hub, our aim is to develop and expand the provision of flexible and high-quality imaging education with the support of funding from NHS England (formerly HEE).
In 2017, inspirational Radiology Managers and a forward-thinking Clinical Director agreed to look at new ways to deliver Radiographer Reporting for the Trust. After a protracted negotiation involving risk assessments, SOPs, and the refurbishment of obsolete PACS reporting stations rescued from a skip in the Trust basement, the concept of Radiographer Remote Reporting across the Barking, Havering & Redbridge University Hospitals was born.
Over time, the whole Team began to deliver reporting services remotely. In return for autonomy and flexible working, the Team were tasked to deliver 120% productivity compared to on-site targets.
In March 2020, no one could have foreseen how valuable this initiative would prove when our Trust was forced by a global pandemic to rethink their working practices. Our Radiographer Reporting Team was ready to adapt seamlessly to a new way of working while other organisations struggled to adapt to deliver the same level of service.
Fast forward to 2023 and now we boast a remote reporting team that we are immensely proud of. A backlog of 66K unreported examinations has been reduced to zero. We cover 08.00-midnight seven days a week including bank holidays. We hot report ED, In patients and Outpatients. Our GPs enjoy the benefit of an electronic report usually within one hour of radiographic examination which in turn generates new departmental income.
Our sickness and absence levels are practically non-existent. Our recruitment and retention of reporting staff is second to none. We have staff who work for us at BHR from as far away as Kent and Lincolnshire. Our reputation for flexible and innovative working is a source of much envy from other Trusts. Reporters describe enhanced job satisfaction and hugely improved work life balance. Expensive outsourcing for plain film reporting is a thing of the past.
We are proud of our strong relationships with the shop floor and other hospital colleagues. Microsoft Teams and similar platforms means that we can continue to teach and interact with a wide audience, stay connected to daily hospital life and be there to support our colleagues with their decision making. As radiographers we are also ready to support clinically when required.
We are delighted to accept the award for ‘Team of The Year’ (London) and would like to take the opportunity to thank our current BHR Management and Radiology Colleagues for their continued belief and trust in us. We would also like to thank our 2017 Clinical Director and Managers for pushing boundaries.
The Newcastle Breast Screening Service provides 3 yearly screening for a population of over 140,000 clients across the North East. This vast geographical area is covered by 3 screening trailers and one static site. In addition to screening over 700 clients per week, the Team also supports a full symptomatic service with assessment clinics, onestop clinics, young person clinics, tumour localisation and contrast enhanced mammography. The clinical staff are brilliantly supported by an Admin Team who work hard in the background to set up clinics and make sure clients get their results in a timely manner.
Pictured, some of the Cardiac Cath Lab and fluoroscopy team members from Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry. Amongst the team is lead radiographer Fergal Doherty, Paul Sheridan, Thomas Nicell, Ashleigh Simpson, Kevin McDevitt and Clare McLaughlin. It is a rare occasion we get the entire team together, just as on the day this photo was taken, as some of the team are running Interventional Radiology and PPCI lists in the lab. Missing from the photo are radiographers Mandy Brown, Kevin Johnson, Megan Barron, Nikita Martin and Aideen Millar.
.png?width=1205&height=942&ext=.png&width=900&resizemode=force)
.png?width=4000&height=2252&ext=.png&width=900&resizemode=force)
The Cardiac CT service commenced with our unique Radiographer and Nurse led service in 2019.
Starting off with two Radiographers, the service has now grown and has four enthusiastic and dedicated Radiographers trained and providing this innovative and effective service to the population of the Western Isles.
Being a small, goal-orientated team has allowed us to work closely with other professions, both locally and across Scotland, to ensure a truly patient centred service.
We have an amazing and dedicated team down on the south coast of England in Portsmouth, Hampshire. We are a team of around 50 staff members including Radiographers, Advanced Practitioners, Consultant Radiographers, oncology assistants and our extremely important admin & bookings team. Everyone here shares the same passion for patient-centred care, showing immense teamwork and flexibility in achieving our goals.
We are a four-linac department, and we cover a large area of Hampshire including patients from the Isle of Wight (IOW) and West Sussex. We have a dedicated CT scanner and offer Brachytherapy, Superficial and Orthovoltage services.
Over the past year the team in Portsmouth have achieved amazing results considering the impact that the COVID pandemic has had on the department. Since the pandemic ended, cancer screening services increased significantly, meaning referral rates for Radiotherapy in our region have been the highest they have been before on top of the waiting list that had built up throughout the pandemic. The team have dealt with this fantastically and worked together to include elongated shift patterns and weekend working to tackle the demand of our service.
In the middle of the busiest period this department has ever been through, the team have had to go through a momentous change in practice when we moved from paper-heavy to fully paperless working utilising ARIA for all patient treatment pathways. This was a significant change to how we have worked historically, and the team embraced this and supported the implementation by helping to refine the processes to improve our workflow efficiencies.
We have very successfully added consultant radiographers to our workforce, providing a career development pathway for Radiographers which we have not done before. This has been so successful in helping our consultants and improving our workflows that we are looking to add further consultant radiographer posts soon.
We treated our 100th SABR Lung patient this year after only introducing the service 2 years ago which was above and beyond what was expected, this was driven by our SABR Lead Radiographer as well as the clinician team. We have now introduced SABR fractionations for bone oligometastases, and plans are in place for starting reduced fractionation programs for nodes, spine, Liver and Adrenal patients in the future.
The end is in sight for our team here with regards to getting back to normality, and this is solely down to the hard work that the whole team has put in. We aim to reduce our backlog back to original numbers by the spring of 2024 and are planning for the future of Radiotherapy at Portsmouth by developing our 10-year strategy to improve our workforce, providing more career pathways for Radiographers with aspirations of technological innovation and the best possible care for our patients.
Cobalt Health (Cobalt) is an independent medical charity with a vision to pioneer innovation in medical imaging diagnosis. Cobalt invests in equipment, integrated research, and education, to improve outcomes for patients now and in the future. Each year it provides diagnostic imaging for over 130,000 patients at its imaging centres in Cheltenham and Birmingham, and through a fleet MRI, CT, and PET/CT mobile scanners.
Cobalt’s PET/CT department is made up of five dedicated radiographers with a wide range of radiographic experience, a wonderful bookings team and a dedicated radiographic assistant, working together seamlessly to provide essential diagnostic services to the community. With a shared commitment to precision and patient care, the team is responsible for performing over 4,600 PET/CT scans annually. Their expertise, teamwork, and state-of-the-art equipment ensure that patients receive the highest quality imaging services, contributing to accurate diagnoses and better health outcomes.
Are a multidisciplinary team of 35 staff comprising Radiographers and nurses working alongside radiologists, cardiologists and cardiac technicians .Working in the only combined vascular, non vascular and cardiac unit in the region performing over 7000 elective, complex and acute procedures a year.
After a period of challenges within the team and service including poor morale. high sickness levels and long waiting times the staff were empowered to influence change. They have worked extremely hard to create an ethos where they are able to share a common purpose to provide a safe clinical environment, reduce waiting times, and improve the patient experience and outcomes for all patients. They have achieved this by adopting new ways of working, embracing role development opportunities and applying skill mix including the radiographers ‘scrubbing’ in for less complex procedures and recovering patients. They have worked with the clinicians to streamline pathways resulting in reducing waiting times and length of recovery time for patients. They have created a workforce to deliver a service in innovative ways.
The success has been recognised and the Team won the Mid Yorkshire Teaching Trust Clinical excellence award – Clinical team of the Year 2022.
The changes that they have implemented have ultimately created a strong Interventional Radiology and Cardiology team rather than just different professions working together.
The Radiology team at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board have streamlined the Lung Cancer Pathway for GP referred suspected lung cancers by 17 days.
Due to a national lack of Radiologists, five Radiographers were trained to report chest x-rays. We collaborated and were supported by our Lung Multidisciplinary Team members and Radiologist mentors.
GP patients attend for a chest x-ray which is hot reported by one of the Reporting Radiographers. Feedback is given to patients by the Radiographer at the time of attendance. If necessary, a follow up chest x-ray or CT scan is arranged. The introduction of this pathway has reduced the time from chest x-ray to CT scan from 16.5 days to 2.3 days (86.06% reduction). Urgent findings are expedited and discussed at the next available MDT.
The Radiology team at CTM UHB, covering five hospital sites, have worked collaboratively to reduce unnecessary delays to patients and speed up diagnosis.
Student
I am a resilient individual who has overcome numerous challenges to achieve results. I struggle academically; however, I possess an unwavering determination to excel and consistently push myself to go above and beyond.
In my first year of university, I found myself facing immense self-doubt and fear, leading to a loss of confidence that almost resulted in my dropout from the university. However, everything changed when I was challenged to come out of my comfort zone and be involved in the 150 Leadership Programme, which reignited my passion and belief in myself.
Recognising my potential, I seized the opportunity to become the AHP department representative at Sheffield Hallam University, a role that further enhanced my leadership skills and instilled a sense of purpose. This opened many opportunities and has given me much confidence to undertake projects such as “exploring students' confidence in assessing the impact of radiation-induced skin reaction on coloured skin tones”.
Through my journey, I have exemplified resilience, perseverance, and a commitment to personal growth. My story inspires me, demonstrating that setbacks can be turned into stepping stones toward greater achievements.
Sam is a final year student diagnostic radiographer at UWE Bristol. Sam entered the profession as a mature student, with a background in education and public engagement. Sam adores her patients and holds her radiography work to a very high standard. She has carried out multiple projects with the Institute of Physics this year to promote radiography and medical physics, as well as collaborating on a BBC New Tech Economy article.
She hopes that wherever she works, there will be plentiful opportunities to mentor students and engage with the welfare of new students & staff; she won a Peer Learning award for her contributions to UWE's Peer Mentoring scheme and delivered a talk at the International Peer Learning Forum on promoting holistic learning approaches in pre-clinical learning.
Outside of professional commitments, Sam enjoys playing piano, reading and hiking around the Welsh countryside with her partner James. Sam is elated and immensely grateful to have been selected for this prestigious award and intends to continue representing SoR and the radiography profession positively throughout her career.
Representative
I am a Therapeutic Radiographer and graduated in 2008, I became an IR representative in 2011 and more recently a H&S representative. I work at ESNEFT (Ipswich hospital) and have been there since I graduated. I am also the secretary for the Eastern region, Deputy Staffside chair for ESNEFT joint union committee and am currently an elected staff governor. In addition, I am a mother of 3 children and supported fully by my wonderful husband.
I love my role as a trade union representative and enjoy supporting the members of Ipswich hospital, whilst continuingly improving my knowledge in HR policies and procedures. I feel fortunate and privileged to be in this elected role.
I am proud to be an AHP and love to promote our profession to the wider trust staff groups knowing that my role can make a difference to my members and the patients we serve.
I qualified as a radiographer in 2007 and work at Worcestershire Acute Trust who have supported me to become a senior radiographer and then a sonographer. I have been an industrial relations representative since 2016. Having worked across most modalities in radiography during my career it has given me a good oversight of the various problems that my colleagues encounter and how I am able to support them through changes/negotiations. I am proud of the changes that I have made during my time as an industrial relations representative, all my colleagues are amazing and deserve the best support that I can possibly give to them, I feel honoured that they have nominated me for this award.
I now only work part time for the trust as I work as a senior lecturer in medical ultrasound at Birmingham City university for the remainder of the week, I use my knowledge from my industrial relations training to ensure that the students are fully aware of what issues they may encounter during their careers and how to deal with any problems that may arise.
My name is Dai Morris and I have worked at Kings College Hospital since 2016 whilst being an elected SOR IR Rep since 2017.
My previous Trusts have included Southampton, East Surrey, Brighton and Torbay.
Being a rep is incredibly rewarding although also challenging on many fronts and I find having an open mind is highly beneficial. One constant is the never ending supply of support that is available from the SOR, Staffside and colleagues.
This award was highly unexpected and I am positive there are numerous hard working SOR reps deserving of accolades.
I am delighted to be awarded Northern Region Rep of the Year 2023, I thoroughly enjoy my role as IR Rep, although it can be challenging, I find it very rewarding.
Over my time as an IR Rep, I have represented colleagues and managers through various on-call/out-of-hours/7-day working negotiations and grievances. I have given advice, listened, counselled and supported as best I could. This all culminated in supporting our members through the recent strike action and I was extremely proud to see radiographers at the forefront of the rallies being recognised as the essential workers that we are within the NHS.
I have attended numerous meetings ranging from local Staffside, to Regional Reps, to representing Northern Ireland at ADC. During my 25 years, I have been grateful for the support given to me by the SoR Northern Ireland IR Officers and my managers throughout this time.
It is an honour for me to have not only been nominated, but to have won Northern Ireland SoR IR Rep of the Year 2023.
I am diagnostic radiographer qualified with the BSc degree at the University of Salford and clinical placement with Trafford General Hospital. Since qualifying, I have been employed by the former CMFT and now known as the mega trust Manchester Foundation Trust (MFT).
I have been an IR rep since 2018. I am very committed to my role as a rep although it can sometimes be challenging to manage time alongside my main job. Since the trust had grown, my role as an IR rep had become increasingly demanding especially with the organisational changes. The opportunities enable me to listen to the concerns/issues of our staff members in order to advocate changes and improvements. When achieving positive or successful outcomes, this feeling is the most rewarding! I have always had a keen interest to facilitate the consistence of equality, rights and fairness in the workplace. Alongside the role as a local rep for the SoR, I am all an active member of the MFT staff side committee and was successful in being elected a seat on the TJNCC panel. This is an amazing experience allowing me to sit in meetings with our corporate workforce management team and HR directors to discuss wider issues within the trust that affect our staff members and aim to negotiate the best term and conditions/policies with the potential to improve staff recruitment and retention.
I would like to thank all my SoR peers and my work colleagues for their belief and trust in my ability. Without all the support, I would not have developed and grown into the rep I strive to be as I am today.
I have been a member of the Society of Radiographers since my time as a student when I qualified from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in 2007. I began my career as a Diagnostic Radiographer in Ninewells Hospital in Dundee before returning to my home county to begin work in Caithness General Hospital in 2010 where I continue to work today. Throughout my time in Caithness General I have worked in General X-ray and CT as well as completing postgraduate training in Ultrasound Imaging through the University of Cumbria in 2021.
When the previous Industrial Relations Representative for our site retired in 2015, I took over this role. This is a role I have found both interesting and enjoyable. The training and support I have received from the SoR, the National Officers and other IR reps throughout these past 8 years has been invaluable and has allowed me to help members both from my own site and further afield with many different issues. To have been nominated for Rep of the Year was a lovely surprise and I feel honoured to have been considered for it.
I’ve worked in Radiology for over 20 years, starting as an RDA then a RAP and finally qualifying as a diagnostic radiographer. I’ve always worked in plain film at Southampton General Hospital and am enormously proud of our achievements as a major Trauma Centre. Slightly older than most of my team, I’ve always tried to look out for my colleagues and so training as an IR rep seemed an obvious choice. I’m passionate about my members rights and known for my strong political views. This has never stopped me however from reaching a compromise in my role if I can. A ‘win win’ outcome is usually longer lasting.
I was very proud when Southampton reached the voting requirement to take strike action – this didn’t come out of thin air. We fought to get the vote out. Good communication has been the key throughout. The WhatsApp groups and teams’ meetings have been great for flow of information from the anger of the grassroots to the actions and advice from our leadership and full-time officers. Our picket lines have been lively and well attended with new young reps to the fore. None of us would have chosen to take this action if we felt there was any other way to get the government to listen, but it has served to make our members conscious of their collective strength. We now have new enthusiastic reps keen to support members in this essential role and this can only strengthen our union for future battles to protect our profession and our NHS.
I am a band 6 radiographer at Torbay Hospital and have worked there for 5 years. I became the society representative in 2021. I graduated from the University of Exeter in 2018. Prior to qualifying as a radiographer, I also completed a degree in Anthropology at University College London.
I have been working to find my feet as a rep; ultimately I am just trying to do what is best for my members and definitely wasn’t expecting this award. Recently there has been quite a lot of picketing, trying to get radiography the recognition it deserves.
In my spare time I like to experiment with vegan baking and walk my rescue dog!
My name is Christopher Rigby and I am honoured to be the Industrial Relations Rep at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust.
I have worked at Airedale for 24 years, and have been the Rep for over 20 years. My role has adapted over the years, I initially undertook Barium Enemas and a range of Upper GI Fluoroscopy examinations. I now work in CT, where I undertake all general examinations as well as CT Colon examinations. I also work half my shifts in Xray, often supervising students and helping to allocate work loads and be a point of reference for my colleagues.
During my time as SoR IR rep I have attended many regional Training days and ADC's and Union partnership meetings at my hospital. Over the years I have attended meetings with members and organised strike action on more than one occasion unfortunately.
I am truly humbled and honoured to have won this award and wish to thank everyone who has supported me and nominated me.
I am a senior diagnostic radiographer working in Bronglais Hospital in Aberystwyth Mid Wales. I have worked here since qualifying in 2019. I was both very surprised and honoured to discover I had been nominated for regional rep of the year. Since taking over the role of Industrial Relations rep around 18 months ago, we have had a whirlwind of a year dealing with issues arising such as pay, terms and conditions and various other issues.
Whilst finding my feet in the role, I have been able to support my colleagues with issues that have arisen as well as simply being there for them whenever they need someone to talk to.
Although very rewarding, the last year has not come without its challenges. I am very lucky to have had the support of not only the other SOR representatives within the team but also from the regional level. This has really helped me to become a better representative for our members and gain more confidence in policy and procedures.
I am working hard to bridge the gap between management and members when it comes to both departmental changes and communication between the two.
I attended my first ADC this year and was given the opportunity to speak to a few different motions and meet many inspirational professionals who are assets to the world of radiography. I have also recently become a member of Welsh council.
Whilst keen to ensure that I am as productive as I can be in my role, I am also excited to see where this next year takes me.