THERE was a lively and determined picket of members of the Society of Radiographers (SoR) King’s College Hospital in Camberwell, south east London on the first day of their two-day strike over pay and conditions yesterday.
The strike continues today and concludes at 8am tomorrow morning.
Speaking on the picket line, radiographer Walid Boubeker told News Line: ‘We are striking for proper pay and conditions. It’s similar to doctors and nurses. We have only had 5%. The cost of living increase is several times that.’
Vas Nevrides, SoR National Council member, said: ‘The strike is going well. We are providing “life and limb” cover. Apart from that, most members are taking part in the picketing. Most of our members go above and beyond to ensure patient safety. I think other unions will come in behind us to force a change.’
Radiographer, Zoe, said: ‘Our fight is the same as other NHS workers like doctors and nurses. Some people have accepted 5%. I don’t think that’s anything like enough. They have more in Scotland and Wales. Even then the highest is 8%. That’s still below inflation but better than 5%. The Tories haven’t done anything good in 13 years. I think they have to go.’
Leandre Archer, Head of Industrial Relations at the Society of Radiographers, said yesterday: ‘Radiographers are overworked and undervalued.
‘They are making a stand because they need better pay and conditions, but they’re also worried about their patients.
‘We are under Agenda for Change terms and conditions. So the last pay award that was implemented was 5% and our members rejected that.
‘They didn’t feel it was enough to deal with the spiralling cost of living crisis or indeed the recruitment and retention issues in the workforce.
‘What we are asking for is for the government to negotiate with us and reopen the deal.
‘We started striking at 8am today and will go on until 8am on Thursday. It will have massive disruption unfortunately. It’s not where we want to be. Our members want to be in dealing with our MRI scans, CT scans, ultrasounds.
‘Therapeutic radiologists want to be treating their cancer patients. But unfortunately we are where we are. We have worked with the managers and with NHS England to make sure that there’s life and limb cover and emergency services provided.
‘Nine out of ten people who attend hospital are supported by a radiographer, but unfortunately 13% of the workforce is missing.
‘There’s a massive gap in the workforce. So radiographers today are taking a stand to get the government to do something about this massive workforce issue.
‘We want something tangible that we can take to our members, obviously over 5%. We’ve always said we want an over-inflation pay rise. What we want to see is pay restoration. Our members have lost about 25% since 2008 in real terms.’
Strike action is taking place at scores of hospitals and NHS facilities around the country. In London, radiologists are striking at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Whittington Health NHS Trust.
