At this year’s TUC Congress, the Society supported a motion seeking to assert that migrant workers should not be scapegoats for the difficulties facing the labour market.
SoR executive director of industrial strategy, Dean Rogers, spoke in support. Motion C03 was a composite proposed by the Public and Commercial Services Union and Unison, and was supported by the National Education Union, GMB, and the Society of Radiographers.
The motion emphasises that migrant workers are an essential part of the UK workforce, and the moves by the government to change the immigration system will breach trust and negatively impact vital services across the country.
Motion C03: Recognition and respect for migrant workers
Dean Rogers said: “One of the main reasons Labour won the general election was voters were concerned about the performance of our NHS and Labour Ministers and MPs said to judge us on whether we deliver on the NHS, and voters will.
Nothing will be more manner from above for the populist right who thrive off running Britain down than if Labour fails to address the waiting list crisis. Alternatively, nothing will starve the cynics of oxygen more than turning around the NHS. It is possible but it will need a serious strategic plan, formed and delivered in partnership with NHS professionals.
Sadly, a year on, we’ve a Government running around in circles chasing its tail as a result of responding to dog whistles from the right on immigration, instead of listening to NHS professionals. That has to stop and stop now.
Latest figures show 369500 waiting more than 6 weeks for a diagnostic test – 21% of those on a diagnostic waiting list. The statutory target is 1%. The last time that was met was March 2008.
We have a waiting list crisis because between then and 2021 we failed as a country to invest enough in growing our imaging capacity to meet the rising demand. Every year we grew the workforce by about 3% whilst demand was rising by between 6 and 7%.
It took Covid to shock the government into taking the need to catch up seriously. Since then we have seen the radiography workforce increase by around 7% - but that’s just meeting the continuing rising demand – it’s not quite enough to start closing the gap. We need more… but we’re in danger of going backwards.
How have we been growing the workforce – where have the new radiographers come from? Sorry to GBNews and co but we have some hard facts to tell us.
All Allied Health Professionals are registered with the HCPC. 80% of the increase in registered radiographers between 2021 and now trained abroad and are international recruits. In 2021 15% of registered radiographers had trained internationally. That’s now 29% - closing in on 1 in 3.
We have also seen the start of embryonic apprenticeship schemes and funding for more student places but not all these places are being filled, not all students stick the course and too many who enter leave the profession after it let’s them down – too often the new professional’ choice being between not earning enough to cover basic bills or excessive overtime and burnout. We can and must improve there too but its hard to see realistically how, whatever we did in the short to medium term, we can grow enough of our own new professionals not to continue to rely on internationally trained and recruited radiographers to defeat waiting lists.
The NHS, if it is to be the source of national pride it should be competing in a global market for scarce, highly trained professional radiographers with choices. It should be offering the kind of packages and support say an IT company or a bank offered people they needed to look after money. We need preceptorships, professional support and mentoring schemes, help with housing, schooling , cultural assimilation for the radiographers and their families or at the very least help before they get here so they have some idea what to expect. Too often the story is different – retention is already a challenge.
We have been working with employers to find out what can help and there has been some great progress in some areas – for example the CDC programme. But last month we were told that’s stopping from next year.
Telling them you can come but you might not be able to bring your families or if your kids are 8 you wont get residency status before they start applying for university is self-defeating. Feeding the hostile environment is a terrible recruitment and retention strategy. The NHS is choking on soundbites about early diagnosis and a move to prevention.
Radiographers and physios make up 35% of all registered AHPs and 58% all international registrants. The NHS has always relied on overseas recruits. This won’t change. This immigration policy has too. Our member deserve better, patients deserve better, Voters deserve better and they won’t forgive a Government that fails our NHS again.”
(Image: Dean Rogers speaking at the Trade Unions Congress, via the SoR)