‘I’m doing 50-hour weeks to make ends meet’: Radiographers go on two-day strike

Radiographers across South London hospitals have gone on strike for 48 hours in a protest over pay and working conditions.

Starting on Tuesday at 8am, members of trusts including King’s College Hospital, University College London Hospitals, Whittington Health and Croydon Health Services have taken industrial action.

Vas Nevrides, 54, is a senior staff radiographer at King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill, and said he was having to work 50-hour weeks “to make ends meet”.

“I’m senior staff and I have to work extra shifts at the weekend to survive,” he said. “I have a wife and three kids to take care of.

“It’s worse for people just out of university who have to take extra shifts to cover their salary just to live in London. Lots of my colleagues live with their parents or more than an hour away because they can’t afford it.”

Union representatives from each trust have worked with trust executives to provide “life and limb” cover for patients.

This usually consists of the same staffing levels that would be provided over Christmas, which means A&E and surgeries are still staffed.

Nine out of 10 patients in the NHS are supported by a radiography professional, who are responsible for carrying out X-rays, MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds and breast screening, as well as radiotherapy for cancer patients.

The strike adds pressure to an already extensive waiting list of patients to be seen. It also means any outpatient radiography work which needed to be done over the past two days has not been done.

Mr Nevrides added: “We go through 30 to 40 radiographers per year because of the working conditions. People are burning out and thinking I could work in the private sector for a nicer life.”

Dean Rogers, executive director of industrial strategy and member relations for the Society of Radiographers, said: “We need to draw attention to the fact that many radiography professionals are feeling burnt out by low pay and increased hours. They’re leaving the NHS, and they are not being replaced in adequate numbers.

“If the Government wants to reduce NHS waiting lists and ensure that patients receive the treatment they need, when they need it, then it must urgently prioritise the recruitment and retention of radiography professionals – and that means talking to us about pay and conditions.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “I want to see an end to disruptive strikes so the NHS can focus relentlessly on cutting waiting lists and delivering for patients.

“The majority of unions on the NHS Staff Council voted to accept the Government’s fair and reasonable offer of a five per cent pay rise for 2023-24, alongside two significant one-off payments totalling at least £1,655, putting more money in their pockets now.

“Over a million NHS staff, including radiographers, are already benefitting from that pay rise. This pay award is final and so I urge the Society of Radiographers to call off strikes.”

Pictured top: Members of the Society of Radiographers on the picket line on Tuesday outside King’s College Hospital in Denmark Hill, during a 48-hour strike in their dispute over pay (Picture: PA)