Award win hat trick for NUH radiographers | Latest news

Radiographers at Nottingham's hospitals are celebrating a hat trick after a member of their team was named 'Radiographer of the Year' for the third year running.        

Susan Johnson, a Senior Radiographer based at Queens Medical Centre, was awarded the prestigious title of Midlands Radiographer of the Year 2017, at the ceremony hosted by the Society of Radiographers (SoR) in London.

Susan said: "It is great that the hard work of radiographers is recognised locally and nationally by this award ceremony. I think NUH is representing some of the best skills in radiography across the Midlands. This celebration makes me realise what a brilliant job we do as radiographers."

She added: "Some of my highlights over the past year have included, gaining a post-graduate qualification in chest and abdomen x-ray image reporting, which has allowed me to use new skills and to join the radiography reporting team, this means I now spend half of my time reporting x-rays and the other half in the clinical setting. This is a huge responsibility and I am enjoying the new role."

The SoR award gives radiographers across the United Kingdom the opportunity to recognise colleagues who go the extra mile to make a difference to patients and to improve service delivery.

Staff are nominated by their radiography peers and colleagues, gaining recognition across each Trust for their hard work and contributions and the award ceremony is attended by members of parliament.

Sam Bridgmount, Acting Plain Film Modality Manager who manages Susan said: "Her dedication and commitment to support and enable new radiographers to feel at ease and gain professional competency and recognition are second to none. Her approachability and knowledge have assisted many through the difficult initial phase of becoming newly qualified, autonomous practitioners. Susan is part of the gel that holds the radiography team together".

Susan said: "I feel very privileged to have been nominated by my team for this award, as I don't feel I have done anything special, I always try and put patient's needs first and continue to do so. It is also one of my aims to try to encourage less experienced staff to do the best they can to develop their skills and set their aspirations high."

Having begun her career in data management and worked evenings in an emergency 999 call centre, Susan opted for a career change after seeing an advert for a radiography role which combined both technical skill and interaction with patients - both of which she thrives on.  Susan retrained as a radiographer and began work at NUH in 2008 and has been here ever since.

She said: "Hopefully when new applicants see our consecutive successes and national recognition, they will understand that NUH provides a good support network for newly qualified staff."

Future plans for the radiography service include introducing radiographer-led discharge in some clinical areas, which will help to improve the discharge process across the Trust.