A year ago I was talking about the significant influence that SoR members can bring to bear when we work together. I also mentioned that the Council of the Society of Radiographers and the Board of Trustees of the College would be working during 2024 on new strategic plans.

These themes came together as the boards met in early spring. SoR membership immediately emerged as a key priority for the plans that the groups went on individually to devise. For the UK Council, membership of the SoR will naturally be at the heart of any plan. As a professional body and trade union, it is right that our principal focus must be the people who commit to the profession and to the protection of rights at work by joining. We are always aware that this commitment to the society is precious. It is this commitment that has driven steady membership growth over successive years.

Recently, as numbers of student and apprenticeship places have grown and as internationally trained radiographers are welcomed to work in the UK, we realise that we have potential to increase our membership and influence even further. Consequently, the society’s strategy contains objectives to recruit and retain more members, to increase awareness of the benefits of becoming a member and to ensure that the service and support offered to members is of the highest quality.

I am pleased to say that the College of Radiographers (CoR) Board also recognises the crucial value of SoR membership. The CoR remit as a charity is to promote research, high standards and quality in service delivery, education and professional practice in the service of the public and, of course, healthcare service users. It is great that the trustees see the importance of strong engagement with clinical service, education and research through members of the SoR. 

As a result, the SoR and CoR strategies are fully aligned around the shared priorities of members, workforce, the profession and patients. Each organisation has different but complementary objectives in these areas.

At the time of writing, work is nearing completion on a joint document to publicise the strategy to members and others. Developing the strategy has been a core part of the work of our boards this year and plans to put this into practice are being completed as the year comes to an end.

As all this has been going on behind the scenes, all of our activities as a union and professional body and within the college as our charitable subsidiary have continued.

The context for SoR members is one of continuing and relentless pressure. In clinical departments, high vacancy rates and increasing demand create a perfect storm where service users face delays in diagnosis and treatment while dedicated SoR members risk their own health and wellbeing as they strive to serve the public. The story is similar in the fields of education and research.

Our message to politicians and policy makers throughout last year has been that this pressure is unsustainable and damaging to patients and healthcare workers across the UK. We have seen encouraging signs of movement on pay, including (at long last) a commitment that members in Northern Ireland will return to pay parity with the rest of the UK.

We know that fixing the workforce shortage in imaging and radiotherapy will take time. In the meantime, some policy-level acknowledgment of the achievement of SoR members in maintaining and improving patient services would be very welcome. The truth is that, in the face of extreme pressure and discouraging conditions in many workplaces, SoR members consistently and continually show incredible professionalism and drive to go above and beyond for patients and the public. 

This came to the fore once again as we celebrated the Radiography Awards and saw members across the UK promoting our profession on World Radiography Day. It is inspiring and humbling to recognise so much great work, innovation and dedication. As we, the members and officers of the Society of Radiographers, get to work on our new strategy, it is the collective commitment to the profession and our patients that will take us to even greater achievements in the coming year. 

Thank you for your personal commitment to our profession and to the society.

Happy new year!

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