Jason Elliott: how radiographers can support each other through workload pressures and burnout

Becoming part of the workforce

At the age of six, Jason had his first “patient experience”, as he calls it. A nasty road accident meant he spent extended periods of time with the radiographers of his local hospital, who helped oversee his recovery – and the role intrigued him. 

Recovery took all the way up to Jason’s late teens, with regular monitoring and check-ups to observe the progress of what were significant injuries to both of his lower legs. X-rays became a recurring experience; to Jason’s relief, the repair work they were able to do as a result was “superb”.

As he was thinking through potential career options, that recurring exposure to radiography became something more serious. A family friend was working in the profession at the time, and they took the chance to sit down together and discuss the work more. Jason was able to secure some work experience in the local hospital and, as he says: “I was hooked. I jumped straight into it. It was tough, but the training programme was fantastic.”

Jason was born and raised in Cardiff, and lived there while he pursued his education in radiography at Cardiff University. Following receipt of his bachelor’s honours degree in 2005, Jason spent 12 years working for what is now the Aneurin Bevan Health Board, South East Wales, as a radiographer across multiple specialties: general radiography, accident and emergency, theatre, mobile, fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine and more.

In 2010, that role evolved into specialist radiographer in nuclear medicine, as Jason found his niche. Working there saw Jason engage with many of the opportunities for mentorship and supporting students on clinical placement, and he caught the bug for teaching.

After five years, Cardiff University was calling Jason back to explore clinical mentorship, starting with a master’s degree in radiography (2015-18). 

In the course of pursuing his MSc, the university took him on first as a clinical tutor, and then as an academic member of staff, training to be a lecturer. By 2016, Jason was working full time at the university and split his role between clinical teaching and academic classroom work. In 2018, he was promoted to a full lecturing role.

In 2022, he began his PhD, which he is now in the process of completing. “It’s nice to be at an institution in our capital city, especially the familiarity and the closeness to the environment of working in NHS Wales,” he says.

“It’s also been great to be a former student in terms of learning to be a radiographer, and as part of the team now as a lecturer, supporting those students as they work their way through to become part of the workforce. It’s a huge privilege.”

Post Covid, Jason was considering his career options but, when the opportunity arose to apply for a staff scholarship role and take on a PhD, he jumped at it.

A year later, Jason applied for the College of Radiographers Industry Partnership Scheme to fund his research, and in the course of pursuing it, he was granted the Doctoral Fellowship Award. “It’s been a huge honour, and a massive boost for the research I’ve been doing over the past few years,” he explains. “The support from the College and the Society of Radiographers, in terms of accessing the profession and the community, has meant larger engagement in my research. It’s had a huge impact on how detailed I’ve been able to get.”

Now, he has an opportunity to present the findings of his research at the National Conference for Radiology Leaders, taking place in London on 14 May. Being able to speak to the people who have the power to change culture is an incredible opportunity, says Jason: “If we’ve got leaders wanting to take this on and embody it, that’s going to have the biggest impact. It’s really great that there are other sessions about professional advocacy. We all want to create an environment where radiographers can feel passionate about their job. I’m really grateful to have an opportunity to talk to the people who can make the biggest change.”

Being honest and open 

Teams feel an expectation to deliver a service around the clock, with limited methods of recovery or support when they need it. But radiographers can also be the catalysts for change within services and the profession. Managers and radiology leaders need to be willing to speak out and say they need to be equipped with the tools to shape their organisational cultures, and ensure a sustainable shift working system. Without that, the potential for error – which can be significant with the equipment being used – will only increase.

“We can try to understand how to support our staff to care for themselves and their fellow team members by recognising their value, by understanding the constraints and pressures they’re under, and by learning how to support each other,” explains Jason. “We need to also hold the line to a point. Practice doesn’t need to be pushed out of normal boundaries. 

“If a theatre phones up mid-afternoon and asks for an extra list [a scheduled session for a surgical procedure], that’s not something you can do ad hoc. That’s something that needs to be planned and discussed. Let’s talk about how we can make this work and how we can benefit our patients without getting to a point where we’re in a systemic overreach.”

The situation within radiography is unique compared to other allied health professions, and indeed other healthcare professionals across the NHS, says Jason.
This is because imaging services are often viewed as a service that just continues to provide, irrespective of requests and demand.

Managers can lead the change, however, and push for radiographers to be part of the multidisciplinary team at all stages. For example, radiography is generally not considered part of the theatre briefings before a list takes place. This means teams could be getting a call five minutes before the first image needs to be taken in theatre – something that should be considered far in advance. Leaders have the opportunity to jump and start saying “you need to plan us in”, says Jason. “You need to plan the capacity you require.”

Still, the biggest hurdle for Jason is changing the culture, so staff don’t feel that discussing burnout and their wellbeing can be conflated with their competency. A big challenge in some departments can be for young leaders in radiology who have been accelerated into leadership roles without the support they need. It might be more difficult for them to distinguish between people who are struggling with performance and those who are struggling purely from exhaustion. “How do we change that culture around understanding each other?” he asks. “How do we support each other and ensure we start picking up early signs of burnout in our teammates? How do we start talking to each other and working out how we can decompress? How can we support radiographers in raising a concern safely?”

One avenue that Jason is keen to explore further is how to ensure that a better working culture can be developed in the workplace, in training and in teaching. Jason’s experience in the NHS in Wales has been well integrated with teaching and professional practice, for example, of compassionate leadership and interprofessional learning. In fact, Jason is working with Cardiff University to embed wellbeing practice and cultural understandings into the way their final year students are taught. This, he hopes, will enable new professionals to know what they need to work at their best. “The more that we are honest and open and develop ways to talk to people we trust about that situation [burnout], the more we can start working through that problem,” he concludes.