‘No radiology leader walks alone’: the National Conference for Radiology Leaders 2026

Following Richard’s welcome, Mark Leftwich presented Richard with a golden clipboard to mark his final NCRL appearance before proceedings moved to the main conference programme, beginning with a keynote address by Benjamin Roe, regional clinical quality and improvement director for NHS England South West. His presentation centred on what he calls the ‘sticky plaster illusion’ – the idea that the health service is focusing on the wrong things when it comes to treatment, addressing the symptoms and not the cause. With an evocative image of several sticky plasters barely covering a burst pipe presented up front, Ben encouraged the audience to consider where attention should be directed – and how the patient might navigate treatment services. “How often do we consider the people in those services – how they experience those services?” Ben asked the room. 

He presented four considerations on the topic:

• Complexity – we understand the care is complex, but we don’t look at the totality.
• Failure demand – we tend to overlook the fact that our failure to be responsive and deliver a high-quality product is having a significant impact on our business.
• A tribal health service – the tribes that we feel part of drive the opinions that we will hear, and therefore the options that we will consider.
• The risk trap – we don’t solve the problem because we see the risk of solving the problem as higher than what it actually would be.

Ben left the audience with two questions: are we dealing with a symptom or a problem? And are we clear on what we’re fixing? “I think the hardest work isn’t fixing the problem. It’s confronting the ones we’ve been avoiding,” he concluded. 

Thought-provoking, idea-generating

It was then time for the morning break. Attendees filed out of the Shaw Theatre and into the exhibition area, where they mused around the conference stands and chatted over coffee.

Many of those mingling were repeat NCRL attendees. One of these was Pam Black, chair of the College Board of Trustees. “As a retired radiology leader, it was a delight to attend this conference again,” Pam told Synergy. “It was definitely thought-provoking, despite feeling that we are all grappling with the same issues.

“Thought-provoking, idea-generating and a feeling that no radiology leader walks alone.”

But NCRL was a new experience for Katie Thompson, SoR president, who was attending for the first time. “I’ve been really impressed with the interaction and engagement, and the number of people here,” she said. “It seems to be a highlight of the year for the those who come, and the conference is talked about for months after.”

Recognise your influence

Soon we were all back in the lecture hall for more engaging sessions championing leadership. Next on the agenda were three talks spearheaded by radiology professionals on the topics of supporting radiographers and addressing burnout.

First up was Adam Prout, a senior radiographer for clinical governance and GP deputy at University Hospitals Plymouth. He highlighted that radiography’s workforce problem isn’t just about capacity – it also has to do with not sustaining the people in it.

Adam shared a personal anecdote about having a panic attack while gowning up for a night shift during the Covid-19 pandemic. His presentation centred on his work in developing a professional advocacy (PA) scheme that utilises the ‘A-EQUIP’ model, a framework that differs from normal oversight and clinical supervision. Crucially, it has helped to reduce stress by encouraging staff to talk through difficult feelings and forge a path to where they want to be. “It’s not a managerial tool, it’s not an appraisal tool,” he said. “This isn’t to replace those [tools] – it’s to work alongside those.”

The results speak for themselves. Adam shared that the service had been rolled out to other professions, such as audiology. For a more in-depth look at Adam’s work in professional advocacy, read this article in the March edition of Synergy.

Taking the stage after Adam was Jason Elliott, another professional who recently appeared in Synergy. Jason is a lecturer and PhD researcher at Cardiff University whose PhD on the subject of workforce optimisation saw him receive the College of Radiographers Doctoral Fellowship Award in 2023.

Jason began his presentation by acknowledging the difficult balance between service delivery and managing staff needs for the leaders in the room. He took the audience through catalysts of workforce wellbeing for managers – recognising, promoting, deciding and leading – and told them that their influence shapes organisational culture.

Promoting wellbeing across the board

Next up was a talk by Katherine Jakeman, quality improvement partner for the Royal College of Radiologists and the Society of Radiographers. Katherine spoke about how the Quality Standard in Imaging (QSI) is relevant to wellbeing in the health service. “Wellbeing in healthcare is not a buzzword,” she said. “QSI recognises that quality care starts with a culture that values its workforce.

“Without the right support for staff wellbeing, we’re at risk of facing the issues the other two speakers have talked about – burnout, mistakes.”

She took the audience through the ways in which QSI enables staff wellbeing. One of these is the upcoming launch of the updated QSI, which is set to be discussed at UKIO this month. “Within QSI, we really want to build in ways to help you improve your service,” said Katherine.

We moved on to a fireside chat titled ‘Prevention in Practice: Making Every Contact Count’. Chaired by Richard, the session featured Danny Hutton, Rosie James, Dr Noelle Clerkin and Linda Hindle.

Richard kicked off the session by asking the panellists their thoughts on promoting good health to patients. Noelle, a breast service manager and advanced practitioner radiographer at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, explained that it can be difficult to fit those conversations into appointment times while still meeting targets. “I do think health promotion is a very important part, it is something we tap into when we can,” she said. “But as the pressures – especially in the breast service, with time-limited appointments – we as radiographers are wizards. Six-minute appointments for a mammogram, in and out. That’s what we’re working with.”

It’s about making sure those conversations happen regardless, she continues. “As managers, we have those… appointment pressures and targets to meet. And so taking aboard extra work, as you mentioned, is challenging. But it’s thinking outside of the box, thinking about how we can implement it.

“In my opinion, health promotion is best – especially in my work – when it is brief, it’s targeted and it’s clinically relevant.”

“Show up in strategic spaces”

The audience returned to the Shaw Theatre after an hour-long break for lunch to hear the final sessions of the day. First was a keynote from Dr Gareth Hill, associate director for nursing, midwifery and allied health professions (AHP) and AHP lead at NHS Education for Scotland.

Gareth spoke about his role as AHP lead and how, initially, he felt as though he couldn’t apply for an AHP role. Now in one, he said he has become aware of the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of radiographers in AHP roles, and he highlighted research on the inequity of radiography representation in chief AHP officer roles in the NHS across the four nations.

As for why radiographers are suited to roles such as these, Gareth was clear: they have the necessary skills and a strong grounding in regulation and are very good at risk management. He wrapped up his talk by presenting attendees with “our shared challenge” – making sure that radiography is something that is understood.

Dr Janice St John-Matthews was next to take to the stage. As the national head of research delivery for nursing, midwifery and AHPs at Health and Care Research Wales, Janice opened her keynote by discussing her time as the clinical fellow to Suzanne Rastrick, chief AHP officer at NHS England. “As I started that first role nationally, I was sitting in senior spaces,” she shared, adding that she wasn’t around other radiographers at that time.

Janice pointed out how radiography is present from the beginning to the end of the patient journey – adding that the profession straddles professional groupings – and encouraged the room to move into strategic spaces where possible. “Radiographers are leading change,” she said. “Show up in strategic spaces.”

Could radiographers lead the AI revolution?

The NCRL programme squeezed every last drop of insight out of its speakers and attendees. It integrated popular mainstream topics – such as the ongoing workforce capacity crisis – and made them relevant by presenting them from a leadership perspective.

It was no surprise then that the final part of the day focused on the topic dominating every conversation – artificial intelligence (AI), and how radiographers should be equipped to lead the charge.

Gemma Walsh, a doctoral researcher and contributor to the City St George’s Research Radiographer Group (CRRAG), explained why radiographers would be a good fit to become leaders in AI – they’re in the hub of the hospital, they have insights across the entire workflow and they have domain-specific knowledge. She then went on to catalogue the enablers and barriers to success, the former including upskilling clinical experts and the latter including a lack of resources.

But it was her Europe-wide research into attitudes towards AI that formed the crux of her presentation. The project, which was funded by a CoRIPS grant, took the form of a survey that received 273 valid responses from the UK alone.

To the question ‘are radiographers well prepared to lead the implementation of AI?’, Gemma told the audience that 61.9 per cent of respondents answered no and 38.1 per cent answered yes. Despite this result, Gemma’s research found that, in general, the workforce is interested in AI leadership roles. For more information on Gemma’s research, check out her article in Synergy April.

The final speaker of the day was Professor Christina Malamateniou, another stand-out radiographer profiled in the April edition of Synergy. Christina is the co-founder and director of CRRAG, and is also a reader and associate professor in radiography at City St George’s. “I am an AI enthusiast,” she announced, telling the audience that AI offers a unique opportunity to rethink, reimagine and optimise healthcare – if we get it right.

Christina then outlined the seven reasons she believes leading in an AI-enabled world is so important:

1. Leadership facilitates AI governance
2. Leadership enables decision making and defines direction of travel
3. Leadership is needed for systems change
4. Leadership is needed to manage the ups and downs of transition
5. Leadership is needed to minimise and correct errors of AI implementation
6. Leadership is needed for ensuring sustainability
7. Leadership is needed to shape the future of work

She concluded her session by telling the audience to ride the wave and lead the way in spearheading an AI-enabled world.