Radiographers took 48 hours of strike action from 25-27 July. A number of strikers at a South West hospital spoke to the Socialist.
“Currently, one in ten radiography positions goes unfilled. We would need a 26.7% increase in staff just to keep up with demand and get through the backlog, with over a million on waiting lists.”
“Britain has the lowest number of scanners per 1,000 people in Western Europe, and many of these are coming to the end of their shelf life. But the government won’t even meet with us to discuss it.”
“Three in five patients with cancer are treated by a therapeutic radiographer. Our department is short-staffed and it is hard to recruit with the low pay compared to other countries. I can’t do my actual job of training other radiographers a lot of the time, because either we don’t have the new recruits coming through, or I’m tasked with plugging the gaps.”
“Bankers get exorbitant pay and bonuses ‘to attract the best’ – why don’t they have that same mentality with health staff? Don’t they want the best radiographers, doctors, nurses or paramedics?”
“We’re not even asking for a proper pay rise, we’re asking that our pay not be effectively cut due to inflation. Are we less valuable than we were ten years ago? I would certainly argue not! Besides, we’re not the ones causing inflation.”
“We have been consistently undervalued and it has really taken its toll. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for my team helping to pull me through. I’m prepared to strike again because our NHS needs defending. This is about so much more than pay.”
Thanks to Ryan Aldred
