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Briefing
Dean Rogers
Dean Rogers
SoR helps 50 Rutherford radiographers secure compensation
The Society of Radiographers has raised concerns about government due diligence after helping radiographers win compensation following the collapse of a private sector health provider.
In June 2022, Rutherford Health, a private healthcare company that operated a network of cancer and diagnostic centres, went into liquidation. Last month, the SoR won compensation for the radiographers who lost their jobs as a result of the collapse.
They were awarded either 75 or 85 days pay at an employment tribunal held in Newcastle in September. While the result of the employment tribunal is a relief for the impacted radiographers, many staff have received only a fraction of what they were owed, and taxpayers will foot the bill for the compensation.
The SoR had already helped members navigate a complex government scheme, the National Insurance Fund, to secure lost pay and overtime, but Dean Rogers, SoR’s director of industrial strategy, said that the collapse of Rutherford highlighted a wider problem in the way NHS contracts are awarded to external providers.
“The government seems not to care who it hands NHS contracts to”
SoR supports writing off student debt to tackle ‘dropout crisis’
The Society has announced its support for calls to write off student debt for some NHS workers, to help tackle high dropout rates from key professions including radiography.
A report from independent health think tank the Nuffield Trust, drafted with support from SoR and published on 28 September, warned that large numbers of front line staff are failing to finish training, or leaving the NHS early in their careers.
The report, Waste not, want not: Strategies to improve the supply of clinical staff to the NHS, drew on 190,000 student records to offer a comprehensive look at attrition rates, and revealed that 17 per cent of radiographers leave the NHS or community setting within two years.
The Nuffield Trust report recommended that to help tackle attrition rates, loan forgiveness should be made available to the 28,000 nurses, midwives and allied health professionals joining eligible public services each year.
The proposed scheme would involve gradually writing off outstanding student debt (averaging around £48,000 per nurse) by reducing it by 30 per cent after three years of service, by 70 per cent after seven years, and then writing it off completely after 10 years.
Survey to track developments in forensic and post-mortem imaging
A nationwide survey has been launched to better understand forensic and post-mortem imaging services. The research is being conducted by a team from the University Hospitals of Leicester, including Dr Claire Robinson, to build a national picture of post-mortem (PM) imaging practices, in the hope of guiding future service development.
With the survey being sent to radiographers, radiologists, radiology departments and interest organisations, the UHL team are also establishing a network of interested parties to share their experience and establish good practice for PM imaging.
The survey will close at 23:59 on 8 October 2023 and can be accessed at: bit.ly/PMimagingsurvey or https://forms.gle/MGXh5gvpyWK6RLXJ8.
You can also contact the UHL team directly by emailing: PMRadiology@uhl-tr.nhs.uk.
Gill Harrison
Gill Harrison
New guidance on developing obstetric ultrasound services
A new obstetric ultrasound toolkit from the SoR has been published to provide guidance for antenatal services, ultrasound managers and sonographers to promote improvements to obstetric ultrasound services and sonographer career development.
The 127-page document, called Guidance and recommendations for running an effective, high-quality obstetric ultrasound service and supporting obstetric sonographer career development, offers ideas on improving recruitment, retention, career progression, and role satisfaction for sonographers.
The SoR says it hopes the guidance will help to address some of the issues facing sonographers in obstetrics ultrasound, including staff shortages, working conditions, morale and a lack of career development opportunities.
Gill Harrison, the SoR’s professional officer for ultrasound and one of the authors of the guidance, said: "A fundamental ambition of the document is to support improvements in antenatal ultrasound services, with a focus on different aspects of service provision and staff wellbeing."
SoR motion on low radiography pay passed at TUC Congress
An SoR motion on the need to improve public sector pay was carried at the TUC Congress in Liverpool last month. Presented by Society Vice-President Katie Thompson, Motion 51 set out the current state of NHS pay compared with national average earnings (a 21 per cent gap), and highlighted how public sector wages have not kept up with inflation.
The motion goes on to detail the experiences of SoR members, and how unfilled radiography vacancies and the appeal of higher private agency wages are contributing to the tough working conditions in the NHS.
The motion proposes a long term workforce plan to address recruitment and retention issues, and the introduction of higher starting salaries, starting for staff joining the NHS in 2024/25.
Katie Thompson
Katie Thompson
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