Yvonne Thackray

Where do you work?

I currently work as the Imaging Academy Manager for North Central London encompassing all 7 Trusts: University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Royal Free Hospital, Whittington Hospital, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH), Great Ormond Street Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and two Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) at Finchley Memorial Hospital and Wood Green.

I also hold a number of advisory roles which encompass being a board member of the College of Radiographers Approval and Accreditation Board (AAB), an advisor for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and a clinical expert for the New Hospitals Programme.

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

In my current role, I work across the four pillars of practice -clinical expertise, education,  leadership, and research, to provide a well-rounded approach to healthcare education and practice. This is a synopsis of my role around the four pillars of practice:

Clinical Practice: I have a longstanding background as a Superintendent Radiographer in breast imaging and hold significant hands-on clinical experience. This role also informs my teaching and leadership roles, keeping my practice grounded in real-world applications. I continue to practice my clinical skills to maintain my knowledge and skills and keep up to date with evidence-based practice, which then informs the teaching and research aspects of my role.

Education: I have extensive experience in radiography education, holding Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) with Advance HE.  I have held Senior Lecturer posts at St Georges University and London South Bank University (LSBU), with involvement in educating learners at both undergraduate pre-registration and post registration levels. 

I maintain my engagement with the education pillar through my ongoing role as a visiting Lecturer at City University, London and New Buckinghamshire University in addition to my current role as Imaging Academy Manager.  In these roles I facilitate and implement different models of teaching and learning across all of the various imaging modalities. I am responsible for undertaking training needs analysis of all the imaging staff in the NCL Trusts to identify any learning needs, to then develop study days, online lectures and face-to face clinical training with the practice educators where necessary.

Leadership:Leadership is evident throughout my current role, particularly where I lead and develop the Practice Educator team. This builds on my past experience as a Superintendent Radiographer, my leadership training and also my previous role as the Training and Development Lead for NHS England South West. All of these roles in addition to my current role have demonstrated my ability to guide teams, develop talent, and expand educational capacity.

Research: I actively foster research development and encourage others into research through securing funding opportunities for further academic pursuits. I participate in research, particularly in areas such as AI and workforce support, and am committed to advancing the imaging workforce through evidence-based approaches.

My integration of roles enables me to contribute meaningfully to the development of the field, both in practice and in shaping the future through education and research utilising the four pillars of practice.

What steps did you take to get to this role?

Initially I gained my Diploma of the College of Radiographers and then undertook my End on Degree which I self-funded in 2005.

I commenced my MSc Medical Imaging in 2014, and as I loved academia I initially included a Practice Educator Module with St Georges and Kingston University. This was a College of Radiographers approved 30-credit module, which meant I was able to be officially accredited through the College of Radiographers Practice Educator Accreditation Scheme (PEAS). The knowledge and skills gained from this were really useful in my role as a Clinical Practice Facilitator for North Central London Strategic Health Authority where I instigated the training and development of 10 Assistant Practitioners for NCL.

Given the variety of different roles, opportunities and experience I have gained throughout my career I suppose it could be  classed as having a ‘portfolio career’. I also undertake Advisory roles as a Specialist Adviser for CQC and also QSI. More recently, I have been made a clinical expert on the New Hospitals Programme.

My strong association with the Society and College of Radiographers has helped me enhance and develop my academic career through being appointed as a CoR Assessor in 2005 and thereafter being appointed to the Approval and Accreditation Board in 2017. This culminated with me serving as Chair 2020-2022. This has given me a valuable insight into validation and CoR approval of universities across the four nations. Furthermore, I have learnt valuable skills being taught through assessor training sessions and also presenting whilst AAB Chair.

I am a member of various SoR Advisory Groups on leadership, the support workforce and artificial intelligence. I have found these groups to be invaluable for networking and in co-developing my own Communities of Practice in Artificial Intelligence and the support workforce in my role as Imaging Academy Manager.

I am now looking to further develop myself and undertake a PHD which will see me engage even further with the research pillar of practice. 

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

I would have liked to have been supported by my employer in my quest for my MSc. I think with the challenges of having children though it suited my lifestyle to do these in my own time and I could choose modules that I enjoyed and would develop my career.

I undertook my Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) whilst I was a visiting lecturer at LSBU and thereafter I was supported with a yearlong training course at Kingston University to undertake my full Fellowship (FHEA). Both Universities supported me through these courses, which was in essence highly valuable to my academic career.

I am fortunate to have been associated with the SoR and training sessions related to my various assessing roles. The CoR have revised the Education and Career Framework for the Radiography workforce fairly recently which is an excellent road map for career development - I only wish it had been developed sooner so I could have had greater knowledge about embedding the four pillars of practice at the start of my career rather than just clinical and academic routes.

What is the most rewarding thing about your role?

The most rewarding part of my role is that I can inspire others to develop their skills in teaching and to educate the workforce. I have now increased my team from three Practice Educators to seven by gaining funding from NHS England. I have seen the Practice Educators develop their skills and become confident educators and have gained funding for them to undertake their postgraduate certification.

This now means in turn we can continually evolve the workforce and encourage staff to learn and identify their training needs.

My recent accolade was to have co-developed simulation of responding to the deteriorating patient with my team and we have proudly just won a Health Service Journal (HSJ) award in recognition of this work. 

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

Some key advice would be to network and find like-minded peers. Engage with the SoR Special Interest Groups and attend working groups or study days and utilise each opportunity to network with like-minded colleagues

Keep levelling each pillar as this will enable you to progress up the career ladder. I think it is key from the outset to develop the four pillars of practice into your CPD so you continually learn and improve your career progression.

Remember to use evidence-based research as this is key to developing healthcare practice and to improving patient outcomes.

My final advice would be to look at becoming a visiting lecturer in your area of expertise or look for opportunities to contribute to newsletters or podcasts - anything that will help you broaden your knowledge and skills.