The first day of the UK Imaging and Oncology Congress 2025 saw attendees drawn in by fascinating talks on the radiography workforce, quality standards, and environmental impact.
Officially kicking off this morning (2 June) with the first plenary lecture of the conference, attendees heard from UKIO President and chair Dr Emma Hyde, who also delivered the President's Welcome.
Emma introduced this year's congress theme – "Community and Consciousness: One Health" – and explained that the theme centres around sustainability. She added that this year's theme also builds on the theme of UKIO 2024, "Vision and values: Putting people first".
Imaging and Oncology 2025: A spotlight on contemporary topics
Over at the UKIO partner stand, Charlotte Beardmore, executive director for professional policy, presented the latest edition of the Imaging and Oncology (I&O) journal, as well as introduced its newest editor Professor Ric Khine.
Imaging and Oncology is an annual publication published to coincide with UKIO.
Speaking to the audience gathered at the SoR stand, Ric said this edition of I&O sees a continued focus on contemporary topics, such as workforce development and emerging tech. There was also an effort to enhance the digital capabilities of the publication by making it more interactive online, he continued.
CEO of the Society and College of Radiographers Richard Evans said he was grateful to Ric, Charlotte, and Wonderly for their work on the newest edition of Imaging and Oncology. Richard added it was a "real pleasure" to be back at UKIO and lauded its individuality.
"It’s a real pleasure to be here once again at UKIO," he noted. "No one else does collaboration quite like we do in the UK – between the industry and the professions, between imaging and oncology, between the different professional bodies that collaborate to make this event possible."
'The buzz is incredible'
Though SoR News spoke to Richard in the morning, he commented on the exciting atmosphere that had already begun to build. "The buzz is incredible already. Lots of people are keen to meet up, to network, to hear the brilliant presentations.
"I’ve got a few things I’m involved in personally, but I’m really keen to listen as well to as many presentations as I can."
That energy continued througout the day as attendees began to explore the conference, network and attend the many educational sessions delivered by some of the most cutting-edge professionals in radiography.
In the afternoon, Emma chaired a Proffered Papers session on the theme of education and training. This saw five speakers present studies in reference to this theme, with each being given eight minutes to explain their methodology and findings and two minutes to answer questions.
Improving quality in health services
Later in the day, at the exhibition hall's service delivery hub, Charlotte Beardmore chaired a session titled 'QSI Quality Mark: Paving the path to sustainable quality improvement'. Glenda Shaw, quality improvement partner, RCR/CoR took delegates through why the Quality Standard for Imaging (QSI) is necessary and how it is designed to give users, patients and carers confidence.
Glenda also outlined the benefits of having a QSI Hub membership, a theme Charlotte picked up on as she explained the key features of QSI benefits. Of these, she highlighted teamwork and collaboration as one of the most important features. Attendees were encouraged to visit the QSI stand.
Finally, the day closed with a panel on health inequalities in imaging, with Dr. Fredrick Lee, system director of diagnostic imaging services at Alameda Health System USA, explaning the compounding effect of intersectional identities on health disparities.
He was joined by Steph Jones, senior transformation project manager at Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance, who explained how the Alliance had used data to provide insight into patient populations, and implemented practical solutions to tackle health inequalities and improve outcomes.
(Image: UKIO exhibition hall, by Eva Slusarek)