Radiography roles and regional support were among the priorities for SoR members during the final day of motions at the 2024 Annual Delegates Conference.
Lively debate continued on Wednesday morning (17 April), as a further 17 motions were tabled following the 48 motions discussed the previous day.
The 2024 Annual Delegates Conference (ADC), took place at the Queens Hotel in Leeds from 15-17 April, and gave SoR members the opportunity to steer the future direction of the Society.
Final day
Day two of the conference opened with two proposed rule changes for the procedures of ADC, both raised by the SoR’s Equalise group.
Currently Equalise, the SoR’s equality and diversity network, is able to attend ADC, submit motions and speak for or against other motions, but it cannot formally second motions to allow it to be discussed at the conference.
James Barber, delegate lead for the Equalise group, argued for increased rights for the network at ADC that would allow it to formally second motions, but that would fall short of establishing Equalise as a full delegation.
This was put to a card vote among the delegation, with a two-thirds majority needed to action a rule change. Both proposed rule changes from Equalised failed to garner enough votes to be approved.
Proceedings then returned to the remaining motions, starting with a call from the North West delegation to support the ongoing use of advanced and consultant practitioner titles. This motion was supported.
Continued debate
There then followed a lively debate on motion 53, again raised by the North West delegation, this time calling on Council to review its provision of regional officers with a focus on equality of service for its members.
Opponents of this motion argued that the SoR should be able to decide how to allocate its resources to best support its members in each region, while supporters wanted the allocation of regional officers to be reviewed but accepted that the final decision should sit with the SoR. This motion was not carried.
Celebration of the Rep of the Year award was also on the agenda, as the South East delegation tabled a motion calling for this award to be moved from the SoR’s Radiography Awards and instead held during ADC. After an initial hand count, a card vote was then held and this motion was carried.
A motion calling for the UK Council to make College of Radiographers accreditation of pre-registration undergraduate radiography courses mandatory was not carried.
Similarly, a motion calling on the UK Council to lobby for radiographer registration fees to be paid for by employers was not supported by delegates.
Other motions tabled on the final day, included discussion around the use of scanners to age migrants by the Home Office and a call to switch off scanners when not in use to help save energy.
After the motions concluded, proceedings then moved to a number of elections, including of observers to UK council, before closing speeches from the chair of ADC Katie Thompson and finally SoR President Dave Pilborough.
Find out more about ADC 2024 here.