‘We are all care professionals, and that won’t go away’: meet the SoR’s AI professional officer

From radiographer to AI professional officer

It was as a 13 year old in 2002 that Jeanette was first attracted to radiography after breaking her clavicle. She took one look at the resultant X-ray and an interest in the field was sparked. Luckily, many of her family members already worked in healthcare and were able to offer her guidance, though none were radiographers. 

Jeanette went on to attend a bevy of careers events in healthcare, and she was always drawn to the radiographers, specifically in diagnostics. “There’s something cool about seeing the insides of people,” she admits.

In 2007, Jeanette was ready to kickstart her radiography career. She took up her studies in diagnostic radiography at the University of Cumbria in Lancaster and graduated in 2010, before moving to University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust as a Band 5 radiographer. She worked there for 15 years, progressing up to consultant radiographer in 2019.

While there, Jeanette took on many roles – student liaison, equipment supervisor, paediatric radiographer – before moving to the reporting side of the profession. Her focus was in musculoskeletal, chest X-ray and abdomen reporting. 

While still working in clinical practice, she undertook a research and methodology MSc programme, and went on to complete her master’s degree in leadership, research and methodology and reporting at Birmingham City University, with support from the trust.

Last year, Jeanette decided she was ready for a change and a position at the SoR was calling. Her official title is SoR professional officer for clinical imaging, AI, assistive and digital technologies and research, a broad brief that touches every corner of the profession. In her role, she advises on new policies in clinical imaging, helping new members and ensuring questions are answered promptly, but it is AI systems and digital technologies that make up a larger proportion of her job. “AI is huge,” she says. “There’s no small way to talk about it. It’s having a massive impact in radiography, particularly diagnostic, but it’s also got its place in therapeutic. 

“My role is to ensure we have policies in place to help guide members into allowing the safe use of AI within clinical practice, and advising them on what is out there, and where it’s happening.”

Jeanette has long seen the tide of AI on the horizon; having worked as a reporting radiographer, she knows the technology could help tackle waiting lists, and has previously seen several AI tools utilised in hospitals. She has also witnessed some of the challenges of AI use during implementation – a lack of funding, the time it takes to look at what is out there and implement it, and patient backlogs taking priority. 

The role of an AI specialist radiographer within each trust could help overcome these, and maintain constant review of AI tools already implemented, she explains. “Why is implementation so difficult?” she says. “I wanted to work out what I could do. In the NHS, sometimes there can be barriers. When I saw the AI professional officer job advertised, I thought ‘I’d love to be able to take that next step’. I’m no expert in AI algorithms, but I think I bring a clear perspective. I’m on the side of radiographers and of clinical. 

“I am a passionate radiographer. I want to know how we can use AI to make life easier for radiographers. How can we do it safely and include radiographers in the decision-making process? That, I think, is the major priority.”

Consent in the age of AI 

As research into AI grows ever more spread out and focused – for example, on topics such as autonomous AI – Jeanette expects far greater efforts will be needed to make it safe, and develop it in partnership with the public. 

That involvement, in fact, will be key to the future of AI. The SoR’s Patient Advisory Group is one way that organisations are ensuring engagement with patients. Beyond simply public happiness with the process, Jeanette adds, is the issue of legality: “If machines make a decision, and the machine gets it wrong, whose fault is it? Obviously, we’re not the makers of these decisions, but we need to make sure that the radiographers have the support they need during these processes. That’s why consent is important – consent of the patients and consent of the radiographers.

“Potentially, the ground floor radiographers, the newly qualified, will be integrating their roles with AI. We need to embed it into education.”

The AIAG is currently producing teaching material that will soon be available on the SoR website, which will be a great resource for members to learn more about AI and their role. Unfortunately, Jeanette explains, the ever-evolving nature of the technology makes developing these resources far more difficult. By the time one webinar has been created – and timelines suggest the team will focus on doing so towards the end of 2026 – new developments might have rendered its content obsolete. “It’s difficult, with AI,” she continues. “There’s so much information we can get hold of. It’s all about making sure we’ve got the time and the resources we need to ensure everything is in place.”