Can you tell us a little about yourself and the work you are currently doing?

My full job title is National Imaging Programme portfolio lead and I’ve been doing that role since August 2021.

I’m a Diagnostic Radiographer by background; I’ve been one for more years than I can remember! I worked across Wales on various health boards, more latterly in management and leadership positions, before I moved into this role to head up the National Imaging Programme, which is part of the NHS Executive in Wales. 

How did you first get into radiography?

I kind of fell into it – back when it was a diploma of the College of Radiographers and not a degree. I didn’t get the grades in my A-levels that I needed to go to university, and I was looking for other options. Radiography was a career that had been identified as a possibility for me by the career advisers, but not many people listened to them in those days. But I saw an advert for the local school of radiography, and I went for an interview and got in!

Sometimes you believe in fate because it’s probably the best thing that ever happened to me. Being a radiographer defines me. It's who I am. It’s a job that allows you to help people and use the skills you’ve gotten throughout your education and life.

What brought you from there to the position you have now?

I worked as a junior grade radiographer for several years, before I got married and had children. Being a radiographer allowed me to maintain my career whilst being part-time and I worked in the evenings, so I was mostly specialised in accident and emergency radiography, allowing me to bring up my children. I had the best of both worlds. I was able to look after them during the day and come to work at night, but I was very tired for about 10 years!

During that period and working with a small number of staff you had to often problem solve some of the operational issues. I came up with some ideas, which I was bouncing back and forth with my manager. I was fortunate throughout my career to have a very good manager, who was a great mentor and had the ability to guide me in the right direction.

A job came up when I was working out of hours to become a clinical tutor, working with the university for education on the site. I applied and got in, and did that for several years, which was wonderful. I loved being with the students. They kept me young and they kept me on my toes. 

It was during that time with the students that I developed an interest in CPD and role extension and development and moved into a role that started the introduction of assistant practitioners within the departments. My colleague and I developed training packages for support workers and radiographers to enhance their roles. From this I then moved into a community hospital, in management, and then developed into a management role within a larger site. After 24 years with the same organisation I moved into a Professional Head role in a different health board. I then did a short stint in England in the private sector because I’ve always been interested in the next step and that role gave me experience in areas such as commissioning and how the independent sector and the business side of management worked. That’s what I always encourage radiographers to do: ask what the next step is and seek out the opportunities to achieve this.

I came back to Wales, into a role as a radiology service manager, and I thought that would be my job for life. It taught me a lot and how incredibly difficult it is to be strategic, operational and professional within one role – I’m not saying I would have left it, but this position came up that allowed me to support radiology services and radiology service managers (RSMs). I use my experience from within all of my previous roles to support from a national position which is what I’ve always been keen on doing.

Can you tell us a bit more about the National Imaging Programme?

The programme was developed in 2018 to deliver on the Welsh government's Statement of Intent for Imaging and it now sits within the NHS Executive, along with other diagnostics programmes delivering on the newly published Diagnostic Recovery and Transformation Strategy 2023-2025.

I came into the post in August 2021 with the remit to develop the programme. It’s almost like an English network – we work across Wales, with multiple groups and a national board, to deliver on the transformation that’s required in imaging in Wales.

We’ve got three work streams within the imaging programme – workforce, quality and strategic resourcing. We’ve built the remit and projects within each of these work streams up over time.

The workforce stream has a project looking at standardisation of job descriptions and we now have standardised job descriptions across Wales for Band 2, 3 and 4 plus reviewed the education to support. Currently developing advanced and enhanced practice JDs in line with the SoR guidance. Quality is looking at Quality Standards for Imaging and how to get the whole of Wales quality-marked. Within Strategic Resourcing we’ve got a capital replacement project, looking at all the equipment in Wales and prioritising equipment replacement and a project on fragile imaging services.

You’ve also just been elected to UK Council as the representative for Wales, alongside Clive MacCallum Roberts. What do you hope to achieve in that role?

I’ve always been an active member of the society, even before I became involved in management, I’ve previously sat on the Welsh Council and I held the position of UK Council member previously as well. I only had to give that up because I moved into a role within England.

Now is an opportune time to get back into the UK Council because I’m in a unique position. speaking to all of the health boards on a regular basis with the national meetings held as part of the programme. I can feed into UK council the work that's going on across Wales. 

I’m also very keen to raise the profile of the society within Welsh radiography. Unfortunately, we can see a fair amount of apathy and the suggestion that we use the society when we need it and ignore it otherwise. But I wouldn’t be where I am now without being involved. Because of the networks I made and people I got to know during my time as a UK rep, it enhanced my knowledge and desire to progress my career. I want to see other Welsh radiographers benefit from that as well. I want to help in any way I can before I retire. 

Are there any unique challenges facing Wales at the moment?

Not a challenge as such but a big difference is the fact in Wales we’re healthcare scientists, not allied healthcare professionals (AHPs). That’s completely different to England, and it can cause problems on some of the IT systems we share such as ESR as we are still coded as AHPs. However, there are opportunities within the healthcare science umbrella that, perhaps in Wales we could celebrate. There's a lot of work going on within the Healthcare Science programme. However, sometimes it causes issues when completing forms online if you are not sure which box to tick, ie AHP or HCS.

Funding arrangements in Wales are different, the way the NHS is set up is slightly different so we don't always get the funding for imaging and diagnostics in the same way. The development of CDHs in Wales for example has not had the same levels of funding. 

What do you think might be your role, as Wales representative for UK Council, in tackling the workforce crisis currently afflicting the profession?

I want to make sure Wales is not forgotten, and that we can utilise polices and guidance that are produced. There have been things that come out of the society that we can’t always use, because of the differences mentioned previously. Some of the education is different such as we don’t have apprenticeships in Wales. I want to help UK Council understand those differences.