World Radiography Day 2023:
The winning posters 

The winners of the 2023 World Radiography Day poster competition have been announced, with some fantastic designs being submitted this year. 

The five winning designs have now been turned into official posters and sent out to radiography departments across the country for display on 8 November. World Radiography Day, this year sponsored by Elekta, marks the anniversary of the discovery of x-radiation by Wilhelm Röentgen in 1895. 

As part of this year’s competition, SoR members and their relatives were asked to design a poster celebrating their profession, all based around the theme of ‘Healthcare Heroes’.

President of the SoR, Dave Pilborough, said: “We had an amazing response to this year’s poster competition, which made the judging very difficult. Thank you to all who took the time and effort to enter a design. You should all be very proud, and we hope to share more of these designs over the coming year. For the winners, I look forward to putting your artwork in my department. You all responded to the theme of ‘Healthcare Heroes’ in a wonderfully imaginative way. Well done”.

The society received a fantastic response to this year’s competition and five winners have since been chosen, alongside five runners-up. 

Winning entries will be included in special WRD packs that will be sent to departments across the UK, while the runners-up have had their submissions turned into colouring posters. 

The designers will also receive a framed copy of their poster, an appearance in Synergy, tickets to the Radiography Awards, and the cash equivalent of one year’s membership. 

Chris Swain

CT radiographer, Craigavon Area Hospital

I have been a diagnostic radiographer for seven years after qualifying at Ulster University in 2016. Currently, I work as a specialised CT radiographer based in Craigavon CT department in the Southern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland. I have been in this role for around four years.

Recently I have become more interested in professional advocacy and publication. I wanted to create something that would spread awareness to the public and aspiring students about the varied and altruistic work within radiography. 

I set out to create a poster that would attract the attention of people who were interested in tech. Also, the theme for the poster competition was ‘Healthcare Heroes’ so I set out to combine the two and I felt this pointed towards a video game theme. There are so many gamers in this day and age, particularly younger people. I felt this would be a good engaging visual for them that is interesting and fun. 

Similarly radiographers, like our colleagues in wider healthcare, really are everyday heroes in my opinion and so I felt that a video-game hero radiographer would be relatable.

Frankie Colling

Therapeutic radiographer, University Hospital Southampton

I’m almost 54, too old to be doing poster competitions, but I do love art and spend a lot of my time painting.

I officially retired from Southampton radiotherapy centre in February after 31 years of working there (I also trained at Southampton School of Radiography so haven’t been very adventurous!). I now work bank shifts there about once a week.

I wanted to make a ‘Heroes’ poster because I genuinely think that my work family at Southampton are absolute heroes. They all go above and beyond and are so kind, professional and clever. 

The last few years have been tough - this is a shout out to them. I’m actually chuffed but a little embarrassed to win an award - I’m looking forward to next year’s poster challenge!

Kristy Wallace

Specialist radiographer, Edinburgh cancer centre

I trained at Glasgow Caledonian University, spending most of my placements at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. I have worked at the Edinburgh cancer centre since graduating four years ago and really enjoy being there with some of the best colleagues/friends! 

After publishing my first children’s book earlier in the year I’m always on the lookout for another art project and love when this competition comes around. The theme was revealed just at the start of my maternity leave so I had some time to relax and enjoy drawing while waiting for my little girl’s arrival.

I think sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit for the job we do. We don’t always appreciate the impact that we have. As therapeutic radiographers, myself and my wonderful colleagues are dealing with people facing quite possibly the most difficult and anxious periods of their lives. Just by treating them with respect, dignity and friendliness we can make a dark time a little brighter. We put our uniforms on and become radiographers doing our job but our real reflection is so much more than that. 

I was really surprised having done well in last year’s competition, so I entered this one thinking ‘aw well nothing to lose!’ So it was really nice to receive the news that my design had been chosen. Also the cash prize while on maternity leave pay is definitely a bonus!

Theoni Wicks

Diagnostic radiographer, Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

I work as a CT radiographer at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust in Surrey. I have been a radiographer for 13 years and I love digital art and gardening. 

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to enter the poster competition was because the brief really spoke to me. I have worked as a radiographer for 13 years and have had the pleasure of working with some incredible colleagues who tirelessly work to help patients often without fanfare or recognition. Creating a poster to celebrate radiographers was a great opportunity to recognise this.

The brief was about presenting radiographers as ‘Healthcare Heroes’ so I drew inspiration from comic book art and comic book action films to depict radiographers as superheroes.

It is wonderful to win the competition and I hope all the winning posters encourage radiographers to know how important their role is in healthcare.

Rhiannon Dumper

Specialist interventional radiographer,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

I am currently a specialist interventional radiographer working within the amazing imaging department at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust. I have worked here for about five years after graduating from the University of Exeter, first as a general or plain film radiographer before progressing to a my current role in 2021 in our busy and expanding interventional radiology service. 

I previously entered this competition in 2020 and 2022 and love the concept and the whole World Radiography Day celebrations. I love being able to visually show others what my job is and its wider role in healthcare as sometimes it is difficult to explain. Radiographers are often not recognised for their role within healthcare and are often unknown about (something we as a profession are working tirelessly to change), with few people knowing what a career as a radiographer involves. This day allows me an opportunity to show others what my colleagues and I do and the knowledge and skills from anatomy to physics required to be a radiographer, and for us as a profession to celebrate and feel pride in the work we do and its impact on patient care and celebrate our colleagues and departments as a whole. 

It is amazing to have won this competition. I find myself looking forward to its announcement every year now, as I really enjoy creating these posters. It is such a fun way to express what radiographers do and to get others interested in radiography. It makes me really think about my job and how others see it and how we can encourage more people to join the profession. I find it is a great way to reflect on the work myself and my colleagues do, how our services are constantly improving and adapting, the challenges we face and as a time think about how we can overcome them.

To have won this competition three times now is a great personal achievement and I am extremely thankful for the SoR for the opportunity to feature within the celebrations. It is also incredible to watch as this competition has grown, with more and and more incredible entries year on year, which show the great talent and drive within the radiography workforce to show who we are and what we can do.