Today the Society of Radiographers takes strike action on our own for the first time in our 103-year history. In Trusts across England, thousands of radiography professionals will start 48-hours of industrial action and lose two days' pay to make their voices heard.
With one in 10 radiography jobs unfilled and one million people on NHS waiting lists, our members are asking the government to invest immediately in better pay and manageable working hours – or take responsibility for the ongoing decline in numbers of professionals and the steady increase in people waiting to be diagnosed and treated.
Our request is clear. The NHS is in crisis now. Patients cannot wait for the Government’s promises for the future. We want the government to meet and agree an immediate plan which includes: a good starting salary to attract trainees; pay restoration over a reasonable time to retain colleagues; and an end the long-hours culture and dependence on expensive agencies.
As a trainee consultant therapeutic radiographer in breast cancer in the Midlands says: “There are patients whose needs aren’t being met. It can feel as though we’re treading water: we’re seeing patient after patient, but it doesn’t make a dent in the waiting lists.
“We used to have four radiographers to one machine: two running it and two outside, doing paperwork or diary jobs. Now there are three radiographers per machine – and then you’re down to two sometimes. We had to shut the machine recently, because we didn’t have enough radiographers to treat patients.
“I’m worried about what’s going to happen in the future. They say that one in three people is going to be diagnosed with cancer. But nothing is being done to remedy the shortage of radiographers. So who’s going to treat all those patients?”
As we start our action, we ask the government to rethink its position around refusing to meet with us. Our door remains open.
Our members deserve better, our patients deserve better.