Life as a Society of Radiographers Industrial Relations rep

My name is Holly Buchanan, and I am a Diagnostic Radiographer at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh where I have worked since graduating from QMU in 2006. In 2007 one of my colleagues suggested that I’d be good at taking on the vacant role of SOR Industrial Relations (IR) rep as I was good at resolving issues and organising events. I agreed to try the role out and completed the training course ran by Elizabeth Stow (SOR National Officer for Scotland at that time) along with several other new reps including Fiona, Freya, Mike & Tracy. I have been an SOR IR rep ever since.

The journey to becoming a rep

Following Job Evaluation training in 2008/9, Freya and I became heavily involved in Agenda for Change (AFC) Reviews which involved reviewing all Radiology Job Descriptions which had been evaluated under AFC in NHS Lothian. There was very little understanding of the process by both staff and managers (and initially us!) which made the reviews very challenging, and some complex reviews took years rather than months.

I then took over as the Area Partnership Rep for the Society of Radiographers in 2011 which meant that I represented all of the Diagnostic & Therapeutic SOR members in NHS Lothian at the Lothian Partnership Forum and the Joint Staffside where all trade unions & professional bodies are represented and make decisions in partnership on behalf of all staff in NHS Lothian.

The next “project” that Freya and I undertook was the Diagnostic Radiography Generic Job Description challenge which we finally completed in 2014. (All these generic JDs now require revision due to emerging technology, terminology and scope of practice and are on my “to do list”.)

I have attended the SOR Scottish Reps Forum (SRF) since becoming a rep and I took over as Secretary in 2015 from (former SOR President) Claire Donaldson. This forum allows reps from across NHS Scotland to receive relevant training and raise issues directly with the SOR National Officer/s, SOR Professional Officer, Scottish Council and UK Council members. Since Covid, all SRF meetings have been held on teams due to service demands. It is hoped that we may be able to hold hybrid meetings next year to encourage networking and build on cross-Board relationships.

In 2015, NHS Lothian made the decision to move all pan-Lothian services including Diagnostics (Radiology, Medical Physics & Labs) into a separate Partnership Forum. The following year I became the Diagnostics Partnership Lead representing all Diagnostics staff. In this role I work with all the other unions represented in Diagnostics (Unite, Unison and RCN) and sign off all Diagnostics workforce organisational changes and job evaluation requests (new /revised Job Descriptions) on behalf of all the trade unions in partnership. I cover this role 2 days a week (Monday & Tuesday) and work clinically for the rest of the week as a cross-sectional radiographer covering CT & MRI which can be a very difficult balance at times. I am still heavily involved in Job Evaluation with regular matching panels, consistency panels and re-evaluation requests for SOR members across NHS Lothian.

Experience as a IR rep

I have supported many SOR members and assisted other NHS Lothian reps with various member issues over the years including conduct, capability, ill health retirement, flexible working, grievances (always a last resort!) and AFC terms and conditions issues. I have also been able to resolve many pay issues which were to the benefit / detriment of members and my strongest advice is always check your payslip, especially where pay protection is concerned!

This experience has given me a much greater understanding of  policies, staffside, and partnership working in both NHS Lothian and NHS Scotland and has given me the ability to help and support members at what’s often a very low point of their lives/careers. I have also learned that it is extremely important to confirm any conversations with clear factual information regarding those conversations confirmed in writing (usually email) as soon as possible to ensure that there is no miscommunication on either side.

Being an IR rep can be extremely challenging at times, but also very rewarding. Please contact me if you have any questions about becoming an IR rep ( [email protected] ) and/or see the information in the links below.

Holly Buchanan

SOR IR Rep, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh

SOR Partnership Rep, NHS Lothian 

Diagnostics Partnership Lead

Interested in becoming a SoR IR rep?

All SoR representatives are elected by the members and are answerable to them. Your role is to represent your members’ interests to the employer. This may be through negotiation with your departmental manager on issues such as on-call payments or grading, at Board level through the joint consultation and negotiating machinery, or individually if members have a grievance or are called to a disciplinary hearing.

As a representative of the SoR you are obliged to abide by the union’s rules and its policy as agreed by the Annual Delegate Conference. Your National Officer is available to advise you on policy.

More information about being an SoR IR rep can be found here.

We are currently changing the processes for electing local representatives, to make the process safer to guarantee it is compliant with current legislation. If you are interested in becoming either an Industrial Relations (IR), Health and Safety (HS), or Union Learning (UL) Representative, please contact [email protected] or your Regional/National Officer for advice whilst the changes are being introduced.

Alternatively you can complete the form to become an IR rep on this page.