Striking radiographers hope to make splash as picket line goes up in Chichester

Demonstrating today and tomorrow (July 25 and 26), the radiographers hope to draw attention to the vital service they provide and bring the government to the table for a discussion about long pay and low hours.

Organiser and industrial relations representative Alun Beard told Sussex World last week that Radiographers are a vital part of many patient’s journeys through any hospital, and deserve better conditions than those they face day in, day out: "There aren’t enough of us, for one thing, and that’s because there’s so little incentive. You’re asking people to spend a lot of money and time – it’s an intense three year course – to go into a job that’s very stressful, with long hours and horrible shift patterns, for pay that’s far below where it should be. We haven’t kept pace with inflation, or the cost of living. We’re making a lot less than we deserve.”

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Describing this week’s strike, he said there was a healthy turnout, with plenty of support from passers-by: “Hopefully this makes people think about us a little bit more. Radiographers are kind of hidden away, even though we see hundreds of patients every day – most people who go into a hospital will have some sort of imaging at some point – it’s just we only see them for a very short period. So I’m hoping this will raise our profile slightly.”

More than that, though, Mr Beard said the strike will have a tangible impact on the workings of the hospital itself: “Because we touch so many different areas of the hospital, people will notice the strike. It’s going to have quite an effect. Things that might normally just happen will be impacted.

Even so, Mr Beard made clear that the people who really need urgent help will not have to do without: “We’ve organised emergency cover. So things like A and E, and anything else that’s critical is being worked. We don’t want to put people at risk; that would be entirely counter to everything we stand for.”