‘Members are our power’

As an organisation, we wait many years for opportunities, and of course we plan to promote the Society of Radiographers, the College of Radiographers, and radiography more generally as a great career. 

We work very hard to improve the profile of the profession, and what really counts, when an opportunity arises, is our members. The power is in their hands.

Never was this more on display than when I was stopped on the street by pop star Dua Lipa in November to listen to her newest single, ‘Houdini.’

It was exactly as it appeared in the video shared on social media by BBC Radio 1: I just happened to be walking in front of Broadcasting House, the BBC’s London HQ, and was approached by a man with a microphone and a woman in a long coat. I didn't recognise either of them. It would later emerge that these people were Radio 1 DJ Greg James, and pop star Dua Lipa. 

The amazing thing to me is that I didn't just give them the brush off and say I didn't have time, or something like that.

Maybe it was the fact that I had just been recording our World Radiography Day local radio interviews with SoR president Dave Pilborough, or maybe the fact that Greg James was holding a BBC microphone in front of Broadcasting House, that made me think that it probably was bona fide. So I stopped, and it was fun.

I realised fairly quickly that this was either a complete scam, like Candid Camera, and there would be a terrible punchline at the end, or that this was a genuine surprise piece of market research, or some kind of stunt. 

So I made up my mind quickly to play along. I listened to the whole song and I found it enjoyable. I have obviously had that particular number played to me endlessly by virtually anyone who gets the chance. 

After a video of the Dua Lipa encounter was shared on the BBC social media channels, and following a huge online response, this incident led to the subsequent re-invite on to Greg James’ show for an interview a week later. Greg was very gracious and he wanted to offer an opportunity to say something about radiography, which was fantastic. 

That is something which I think members should know about. That re-invite wasn't due to the 10 million people who thought I was some eccentric English person – though I'm aware there was a fair amount of social media action around that. We got an invite back entirely due to the huge response from radiographers, and predominantly SoR members. 

It was the strength of that response, and the incredibly positive response that came through, that made the BBC think, “we've really done something here.”

That is an indication, to me, of member power. The organisation is its members. And when we all mobilise around a point, we can do anything.

A year of tremendous events

This year has been such an important one for our members. Under any estimation, a decision to take industrial action has to be significant in the life of the union, and I went on record earlier in the year to say that this doesn't happen very often, thankfully.

It takes a lot for health professionals to feel as strongly as they do right now. Not only over pay, which is obviously hugely important, but also the conditions in which they and their colleagues work, and the services for the patients, have to be in dire straits to actually get to the point where you think the only option we've got is to take action.

The support of members and the public for the strike action, when it happened both in England and in Northern Ireland, was astonishing, really something to be proud of. Although we wish we didn’t have to be proud of it, it did show the strength of our organisation. 

On the downside, the relative inability of the government to hear what we had to say and their unwillingness to talk about pay, was disappointing. 

The industrial action has been significant, and the response of the government has been insufficient. We are still in dispute.

Getting members involved

It was great to see the Annual Delegates Conference return to full strength in April, and I’m looking forward to seeing more member involvement in the democratic process in future. We want to get members discussing our policy, as we look to bring resolutions to upcoming conferences, discuss the format, and see if we can get more online involvement as well as in the hall. 

As always, the UKIO is a highlight of any year but that was another terrific, tremendous event for the profession, for our members to see research put forward, presented and discussed. 

In the year we've learned that our peer reviewed journal, Radiography, has achieved its first impact factor - an evaluation index used to reflect the relative importance of an academic journal, and a brilliant result after many years of hard work. Again, the commitment of authors, including many SoR members, is celebrated when we are recognised like this.

The journal is going from strength to strength. It’s very highly regarded and promotes the profession internationally, but also it's our journal. So it's something to be immensely proud of. 

Of course, we've also got our award-winning member publication Synergy, which last year achieved the ‘Best Association Newsletter or Magazine’ prize at the Association Excellence Awards for the switch from print to digital publication.

The year ahead

Looking ahead to 2024, there’s a lot of exciting developments to come.

Both the Society and the College are working in the early part of the new year to determine a new strategic plan for both organisations. We are aiming to launch these in the summer, hopefully at UKIO.

It is always a significant event to think about where we think we can take the organisations in the next three years, so watch out for that. 

We will also be continuing our campaigns on pay and better conditions at work. It looks like it'll be an ongoing theme into the new year. 

We're launching new policies and support around our accredited representatives. We want members, not just reps, to understand the scope of the benefits that are on offer as members of the Society. It's a really impressive membership package, so we want to make sure members understand just how impactful that can be for them. 

All of our resources are important. The breadth of advice and support that's available, not only on employment matters but as a union, is fantastic. We have an absolutely first-class network of accredited representatives around the UK, in addition to our full time officers.

Most people hope they will never need to draw on industrial relations advice and support, but it really is a crucial benefit. 

We have a similar potential to advise and support on professional matters. There is a network of professional advisory groups and professional officers working on policies,  career progression and the education side of our work. The opportunities for members to get involved and to benefit from that side of our work, including through the CPD, are really significant. 

We want to make sure that everybody knows about that, as well as knowing they have regular access to Synergy and our journal, Radiography. Our mentorship scheme for leaders and the mentorship scheme for researchers continue to thrive, showing that support for members, by members, is a great way to encourage development, not only of individuals' careers but also the profession as a whole.

Our programme of member support through the Radiate programme is worth mentioning as well – some of the webinars we're hosting are seeing amazing take up from members who are realising the benefits around becoming active in membership of the SoR.

You can contribute to the profession and to the professional body/union. The benefits that that brings are immense. 

As we look ahead, we want to harness more of our significant member power!