Helen Anderson

Where do you work? 

My full-time role is as the Imaging manager at The Wilmslow Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare UK, but I have held an honorary lecturer role at the University of Liverpool since 2021 teaching post graduate MRI students.

What do you do in your current role/area of expertise?

As Imaging Manager I lead a team of Diagnostic Radiographers, and Radiology Department Assistants, and I’m responsible for the radiology service across HCA Manchester, including MRI, ultrasound, general radiography and mammography. This service will be developing to include DXA and CT in the near future. I am actively engaged in supporting the professional development of my team, for both their sense of personal achievement and to benefit our radiology service. My clinical expertise is in MRI and I still maintain my clinical competence by undertaking regular MRI sessions in my department.

In addition to my managerial role, I also work for the University of Liverpool undertaking teaching and assessing on the Postgraduate CPD module in MRI, as an honorary lecturer. This involves developing learning materials to meet the module outcomes, I also deliver both in person and online lecturing (synchronous and asynchronous) and mark the students’ exams and written assignments. I find the variation in my role very rewarding, and keeps my knowledge and skills relevant for my clinical practice.

What steps did you take to get to this role?

I have always been motivated to continually develop my skills. Initially I took up a training post in cross-sectional imaging when I was relatively newly qualified. I then specialised in MRI and undertook a postgraduate certificate in MRI.

Upon completion of this, I took up a role as Clinical Lead for MRI in the NHS, which I held for many years.  Whilst in this role I undertook a variety of courses to develop my skills in leadership and management through the NHS Leadership academy, including the Edward Jenner leadership programme, followed by the Mary Seacole Management and Leadership Programme.

The Covid 19 pandemic made me consider what next steps I wanted to take with my career, and I applied to become an honorary lecturer on a 12-month secondment with the University of Liverpool. I had always enjoyed the clinical teaching element of my Clinical Lead role and was passionate about the development of radiographers new to cross-sectional imaging. The advertised role was to develop and design the curriculum for 2 new CPD modules in MRI and CT, and support with the development of the University’s Pre-registration MSc in Diagnostic Radiography. I found this role very rewarding, and I had the opportunity to support the learning of both postgraduate and undergraduate diagnostic radiography students, act as an academic advisor, and support with the ongoing research projects that the Diagnostic Radiography programme where working on. While I was on secondment, I also undertook further training in teaching by completing Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Following my secondment, I have kept up my honorary role, returning each year to support the MRI CPD module, teaching and assessing alongside my substantive role, initially in the NHS as Clinical Lead, and now I have moved into the private sector as Imaging Manager. I am currently enrolled on an MBA in Healthcare Management, and I’m hoping that this will enable to develop my leadership skills further, and potentially support other leaders to develop their skills in the future.

What support did you have along the way or would have been helpful to have had?

Support from management is key to enable you to take time away from your role to develop your skills in another area. I was fortunately supported to take a 12-month secondment away from my role to develop my teaching skills, but I feel this ultimately benefitted my practice and development of the staff in the department.

What is the most rewarding thing about your role?

I find supporting the development of others really rewarding, both in my management role and teaching. Being able to impart your knowledge and experience to others is a real privilege and observing them use methods and ways of working you have taught them is really rewarding. I also actively seek out ways in which my team can develop, to ensure they have job satisfaction and role development.

What advice can you give to others who might want to work towards this role or follow a similar pathway?

Following a career path into education can be daunting at first, especially if you aren’t used to public speaking.  My advice would be, give it a try! I didn’t realise how rewarding it would be and I really developed by putting myself out of my comfort zone. I met lots of interesting people, and always learned a lot from my students in return, who would share their practice during group discussions. Go for it you won’t regret it!