New president for The Society for Radiological Protection

Jim Thurston of Dorset County Hospital elected

Published: 11 August 2021 Radiation protection

Jim Thurston, Head of Medical Physics and Healthcare Technology at Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, has been elected as the next President of The Society for Radiological Protection.

Jim took up the role at SRP’s recent annual conference in Bournemouth. He has been a member of SRP’s governing council since 2019 and has served on a number of the committees.

Brought up in south east London, Jim studied Applied Physics at the Liverpool Polytechnic (now John Moores University) and subsequently undertook an MSc at Brunel University in Medical Radiation Physics.

Jim’s career started in 1987, working for two years in Nuclear Medicine at Charing Cross Hospital, before moving to work in the Radiation Protection Service at St George’s Hospital in Tooting. He has subsequently worked in medical physics at a number of large London Teaching Hospitals before moving to Dorchester in 2020.

He became a certificated Radiation Protection Adviser in 1996, a Chartered Radiation Protection Professional (CRadP) in 2008, and a Fellow of the Society (FSRP) in 2019.

In his current post at Dorset County Hospital, Jim is responsible for managing the medical physics and clinical engineering services in uses of both ionising and non-ionising radiations including diagnostic X-rays, ultrasound, lasers, ultraviolet therapies, as well as the provision of support to all medical devices used in the hospital.

Jim expressed his intention to use his presidency to promote diversity and inclusion in the Society and the profession.