Radiographers in Northern Ireland are calling for the pay rise necessary to stop the brain drain from the profession – and to ensure that HSC waiting lists do not continue to increase.<br /><br />Over 900 members of the Society of Radiographers across Northern Ireland took to the picket line today for 12 hours – joining thousands of other workers throughout the province in the biggest-ever strike in Northern Ireland’s recent history.<br /><br />Praising staff, Cora Regan, Northern Ireland national officer for the Society of Radiographers, said: "We were thrilled to see so many members braving the freezing temperatures to stand on the picket line and make the point that the government cannot keep paying radiographers out-of-date wages and just hope that things will carry on as normal.<br /><br />"Will going on strike have an impact? Our answer is that it has to. As a country, we can't afford any other outcome. We cannot keep on going the way we are. It's not sustainable for our members, and it's not sustainable for our patients.<br /><br />"Going out on strike is a difficult decision, especially during the winter months. But if we want to avoid facing a worsening crisis in HSC hospitals every winter, then we need to do something now to improve the recruitment and retention of radiographers.<br /><br />“We need to offer our radiography professionals considerably better pay and conditions if we want to be able to keep them in our hospitals – and avoid patient waiting lists growing even longer than they are already.”
