The Society of Radiographers’ New Professionals network was first launched in 2021 to support students who were studying to become radiographers in bridging the gap into the workplace. 

Many students were able to receive support from the SoR during their time in education, this support needed to be tailored to their experience as they settled into their new roles and acclimatised to the workplace. 

Staying involved with the society throughout their time at school and into their new organisations gives them an additional community they can tap into for support, explained Nichola Browne, students and new professionals officer at the SoR.

The network provides a space for those new professionals to access peer support and talk to like-minded people going through the same thing as them, as well as professional support.

Meetings take place throughout the year, with the 2026 launch taking place on Monday 2 February and continuing on a bimonthly basis in a ‘lunch and learn’ format. Led by Nichola Browne, students and new professionals officer, and Marie Bullough, regional officer for the south east, attendees will be able to direct their queries to experienced professionals and seek advice directly.

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Nichola said: “The way we communicate with each other has hugely changed since the pandemic. We were forced into this space where we were isolated into silos on a virtual level. A lot of our now professionals now would have had their studies delivered on a virtual level, rather than actually going into their campuses.

“It’s reduced a lot of confidence in how we communicate with each other. As a professional body, we have a duty to encourage and build confidence in our professionals. The resources we offer, the networks we offer, are built for this purpose. They’re built to allow you to engage in a comfortable way, which is both professional and nurturing to your wellbeing.

“There’s no obligation to sign up – it’s there for you to drop in and out as you need it. You can talk about the things you want to talk about, share your experiences and learn from other peoples’. We’ll be very welcome to see anyone at any time of year, whenever we meet.”

These sessions will include regular continuing professional development (CPD), soft skills, and training. The regular inclusion of “bite-sized” CPD will help to build up graduates’ portfolios for their Health and Care Professions Council registration.

The first session will be two hours long to give interested parties a full tour of what will be on offer, though attendance is not required for the entire session. This includes a rundown of all the CPD planned for 2026, an introduction to the SoR’s Schwartz rounds and the fact they will be extended to new professionals, and a reminder on all the membership benefits on offer with the society.

Marie Bullough will then give a one-hour workshop on professionalism and what it means to be a good employee in the workplace.

Future sessions will also take on requests from attendees on the kinds of CPD they are interested in, so future meetings can be tailored to those needs.

Nichola said: “We know there are some core things that we want to make sure that people constantly have access to. Things like employability or patient care, CPD around research and inclusivity. There are core messages that we want to make sure that we're putting out, but we also recognise that the landscape, both as a new professional and as a radiographer in general, is always changing, and our society in the last few years has vastly changed. 

“We need to recognise that there may be needs out there with our new professionals that we're not fully aware of. So we need to listen to them, and they may say, ‘actually, I'm struggling trying to navigate pensions as a new professional. Could you help me with this?’ Or, ‘with the increasing pressures in the NHS, I'm being asked to do more overtime that I'm not comfortable with. How do I navigate this?’ There are lots of ways that we can then create and tailor our CPD to make sure that we're giving them the right guidance.”

Find out more about the New Professionals Network, and how you can get involved, online here.

Over the last 18 months, the SoR became the first professional body to hold a Schwartz round license in the UK. This scheme was first piloted with the Learners’ Network, with students and apprentices conducting these rounds both online and face-to-face.

On the back of that success, these rounds are being rolled out to different member groups, beginning with the new professionals.

Schwartz rounds offer participants a chance to reflect on what they’re experiencing on a day-to-day basis in a safe and boundaried environment – a rare opportunity while working. Where most hospital rounds break down a particular case study and talk about what happened and what could have gone better, Schwartz rounds are a non-problem-solving space to focus on the emotional impact of working in healthcare.

During a round, two Schwartz Centre-trained facilitators will conduct the meeting. Storytellers will present five-minute stories, one after another, with a connecting theme – for example, feeling like a fish out of water.

These stories will sow the seeds in listeners to think about times when they have felt similar emotions, or perhaps experienced similar stories of their own. 

Nichola emphasised, however, that these sessions would not focus on problem solving – they are about making uncomfortable conversations more comfortable, normalising discussion of emotions and the impact of working in the health service.

“You don’t have to feel you have to brush everything under the carpet, you don’t have to feel like you have to put your chin up and get on with things,” she said. “It’s okay to sit in that moment, to feel those emotions, to share them with other people. That helps you to move on in a safer and healthier way with your job. We want to make sure those spaces are available for our new professionals.”