Welcome to the Patient Advisory Group

Philip is chair of the PAG. He explains during his time with the CoR. "I have been a member of the PPLG and now the PAG for about 12 years and Chair for the last 8 years. I decided to join the Group after recovering from a serious illness and thought that becoming involved with the Group was a way of giving something back. I had had a wide experience of health issues both as a patient and carer. During the COVID pandemic all meetings have been online for the College and many other organisations and this has brought many more opportunities. I have worked on projects with numerous Universities on both Patient and Radiation related matters. I have spoken at the CoRIPS seminar in London about my involvement in the task and finish group to develop the Society and College of Radiographers' Patient Public and Practitioner Partnerships within Imaging and Radiotherapy: Guiding Principles, introduced a new Patient award at the Radiographer of the year event at the House of Commons. I am a member of the SoR Research Group and sit on the SCoR Communications Forum. I was part of the working party that responded to the Francis Report on behalf of the SoR. I attend the College Board of Trustees meetings as a lay member from time to time. I have been a lay / patient member on the Public Health England (PHE) International Research Group into Ionising Radiation impact on Cataracts. I worked on the Clinical Imaging Board project to develop a paper on Errors, Adverse Events and Near Misses." Philip explains: “Membership of the PAG is open to anyone and we meet two or three times a year and will resume some face to face meetings soon, with expenses covered by the College. We also keep in touch electronically,” he adds. Philip explains that being a part of the PAG is more than just turning up, having a voice is important: “From the PAG perspective it is important that we are able to give the Patient View and that we understand radiographers and the environment in which they work so that we can provide credible and genuine support,” he says. “We are supported by CoR and SoR officers and work closely with them on a broad range of projects and professional issues. We also share our insights and views with these working groups, boards and other organisations". "It is both fascinating and very rewarding to know that as a lay person you can get involved and help in the delivery and improvement of great patient care.”

Liz lives and works in Northern Ireland and she joined the PAG in 2019. Liz is passionate about ensuring radiographers work with patients to develop services. She believes in true co-production where patients and healthcare professionals work together to achieve service improvement. Liz is the voice of the PAG on the review group for the Quality Standard for Imaging.

My background is mostly marketing in creative/educational areas and my current work is as a market research interviewer. I have experience of cancer and other conditions in my family and my hope is that there may be something in these combined experiences which might contribute ‘patient’ insight whenever possible or appropriate.

Clare joined the PAG in 2021. She is an enthusiastic and valued expert member of the group. She has attended our annual conference and is the lay observer to the UK Radiotherapy Board.

Rachel joined the PAG in 2019 in response to a national call out for new members. She has had an extensive career working in market research and insight which involved listening and learning from the public to help organisations understand their customers and users so they could communicate more effectively, improve products and services, and make better decisions. She currently works as a Senior International Evidence Manager for an international Multiple Sclerosis (MS) charity who, together with their members and others from the MS movement, work to improve the lives of people with MS and their loved ones. Their aim aligns to the College of Radiographers aims for people to be involved and empowered in all aspects of their care. Rachel is part of Biobank, a longitudinal study where they use her medical data (including scans) to help with research projects. Rachel is a trustee for 2 UK health charities.

Steve retired in 2017 after a working life in the NHS. He worked almost 30 years as a biomedical scientist in microbiology and public health services before moving into NHS general management. During his career he worked with a range of services including the specialist services of diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy and worked with the teams on service development. As a long-term survivor (over 30 years) of cancer Steve took the opportunity to use his lived experience in Patient and Public Involvement. Steve is a member of CRUK Online Cancer Insights Panel, a Public Reviewer for the National Institute for Health Care Research (NIHR) and Patient and Public involvement and Engagement (PPIE) representative on several trials around the UK.

I am a retired teacher of Modern Foreign languages and a JP and have served as a patient representative in the NHS at national and local levels. I am proud to be a founder member of our Patient and Public Liaison Group now the Patient Advisory Group (PAG). In 2007 I responded to a newspaper advert appealing for members of the public who would be interested in forming a PPLG of the CoR and SoR. At about this time I had completed research as part of my postgraduate studies on the the topic of Patient Involvement in the NHS. The conclusion I had reached was that there was very little positive and effective participation so I felt that this was an opportunity to make a useful contribution. During my time as a member of the PPLG I have had the opportunity to serve on various boards and working groups including the Approval and Accreditation Board, the College Board of Trustees, the Radiotherapy Board and the National Radiotherapy Implementation Group. In all these activities my input as a lay person has been fully appreciated and I have always felt that my contributions have been valued. I believe, therefore, that the PAG has a very important role to play in improving the patient experience. Being a member of the PAG has also given me other opportunities to participate in the wider health community – I am an accredited lay assessor for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and carry out assessments in both Imaging and Physiological services. “I’d say to anyone – get involved! And the more you get involved, the more you get out of it. I’ve met many incredible people and seen some of the vast amounts of work that goes on. It really makes you appreciate what is done for the patient and gives you a small but not insignificant insight into the NHS. It’s incredibly enjoyable.”

Isobel joined PAG in 2022 as part of her role as the Lay Observer to the SOR UK Council. She is a non-voting member of Council and offers an independent external perspective. Isobel has a background in risk management and city regeneration and for the past ten years has been serving on disciplinary tribunal panels for various legal, financial services and health regulators. Isobel is committed to patient safety and service improvement and is keen to help amplify the patient voice.

Wendy qualified as a diagnostic radiographer in 1980 and has worked in both the NHS and independent sector in a range of diagnostic radiography roles. Wendy maintains HCPC registration and membership of SCoR as her professional training as a diagnostic radiographer underpins everything that she does. Wendy enjoyed working in a wide range modalities in secondary care and tertiary centres in the first half of her career. The final 10 years of clinical service delivery were spent in MRI undertaking scanning and teaching the next generation of MRI radiographers. After a period as Head of Operations she moved to her current role as Director of Clinical Quality for InHealth with an absolute focus on patient safety and continuous quality improvement. With her team she works to improve patient and staff safety through education and training and the use of clinical human factors to understand why errors are made in the delivery of clinical care to patients throughout radiology. Wendy says “Patient experience is a key strand of the work we do so we can use feedback to improve services. We work with patients and service users to develop our policies and patient information literature using co-production and ensure that we include resources that support the diverse range of people accessing healthcare services.”

Tia is a seasoned senior leader in healthcare technology, who brings over two decades of expertise to her role as a Patient Trustee. She has led the development of cutting-edge digital health solutions and spearheaded transformative national projects in diagnostic imaging to improve patient outcomes. Tia’s lived experience with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome fuels her commitment to advancing inclusion for disabled individuals, advocating for their needs and rights. Her extensive background and seniority in the industry guarantee that patient interests are effectively represented, while her passion for healthcare innovation drives continuous advancements in patient care through technology and service improvement.

Marcus is an Associate Professor and Professional Lead for Diagnostic Radiography at St George’s University of London. Marcus has sat on the Imaging and Therapy Practice Editorial Board and Approval and Accreditation Board and regularly reviews articles for Radiography. He is an academic experienced in senior leadership and management at both faculty and institutional level. Marcus has held strategic leadership roles in the NHS which are complemented by twenty-four years’ knowledge and skills gained in the higher education sector. “I am a passionate advocate of excellence in patient care and the student experience, quality assurance, transformative educational partnerships and proactive staff education and development. I am delighted to sit on PAG which helps to the College in achieving one of its key objectives - amplifying the patient voice".

Sue left school at 16 and married her childhood sweetheart at 17. She worked in a bank and, after having two children, worked as a nursery school teacher. Sadly Sue’s husband was diagnosed with cancer when he was 35 years old and died at 36 in 1991. She had become interested in radiography ‘while sitting in hospital waiting rooms’ during his treatment, both for his radiotherapy and on visits to diagnostic departments. When he died, she put her plans on hold. Sue had taken A levels at evening classes with a view to training to teach older children. Then she received a phone call from the superintendent she had met during the hospital visits: ‘He had remembered my interest in radiography and it was his call that persuaded me to give going to university a try’. Sue was accepted to study at Charterhouse College of Radiography, now City University, starting in the second year that the radiography degree had been in existence. She qualified in 1995 and started work at Broomfield Hospital in Essex where she still works. Sue is now a CT radiographer, having undertaken colonography training and other courses, and is ‘amazed’ by the developments in technology she has seen over the past 30 years across all modalities. Sue stood for UK Council in 2013 and was honoured to become President in 2018. Her prime aim as President was the promotion of patient-centred care, believing that patients should be the main focus of radiographers at all times: ‘We are in our jobs to look after and care for people at the most vulnerable times of their lives and should see this as a privilege and try to make everything as stress free as possible’. Now as Vice Chair of the College Board Sue is motivated by the aims of PAG and hopes to bring her personal and professional values to the group.

Katie is Chair of UK Council. She qualified as a Diagnostic Radiographer in 1993 at the Lincolnshire School of Radiography, before training as a sonographer at Cardiff University Hospitals. Katie has worked in the NHS all of her career, at Princess Margaret Hospital, The Great Western Hospital, Gloucester Royal and Cheltenham General. Katie really enjoys teaching and has set up training programmes for midwives to perform presentation scans and a gynae and early pregnancy programme for the obs and gynae rotational doctors, for which she won the Southwest Deanery trainee of the year. She became an Industrial Relations rep around 10 years ago, winning Southwest Rep of the Year in 2019. Katie became part of UK Council in 2020 to help promote the Radiography profession and represent the interests of all Society members. Katie became a trustee on the College of Radiographers board in 2023.

CBE, FCR, Hon MRCR, MBA (Open) DMS CM BSc(Hons) DCR (R) & (T) Charlotte Beardmore is the Executive Director of Professional Policy at the Society and College of Radiographers (SCoR) and a past president of the SCoR. Charlotte served as an EFRS Board member from 2016 - 2023 and as President of the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), and she is currently an advisory Board member. Charlotte represents the EFRS on the European Society of Radiology Patient Advisory Group, and continues to contribute to a number of European projects on behalf of the EFRS. Charlotte is an honorary member of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR). Charlotte has over 35 years’ experience as a radiographer, qualifying in both diagnostic and therapeutic radiography and her work has spanned across clinical, project and managerial positions in the NHS, the private sector and within the SCoR. Her current role requires her to provide leadership, advice and guidance on educational and professional development of the radiographic profession across the UK. Charlotte leads the Professional and Education team at the SCoR, is part of the Executive team leading the SCoR, and works with SCoR UK Council and the College Board of Trustees. She is also co-chair of the NHS Workforce Training Education Board overseeing the Centre of Advancing Practice. Charlotte was awarded a CBE for services to Radiography by His Majesty the King in the New Years Honours List 2024.

Lynda is a diagnostic radiographer and a professional officer for clinical imaging at the SoR. Lynda liaises with the PAG and SoR members and actions recommendations from the PAG in line with SoR and CoR strategy.

Richard is the Chief Executive Officer of the Society and College of Radiographers and represents the organisations culture, intention and commitment to listening to the patient voice.

Rachel is a therapeutic radiographer and the Professional and Educational Manager at the SoR. She has been a member of the Patient Advisory Group since it began and was integral to the development of the Patient Public and Practitioner Partnerships within Imaging and Radiotherapy: Guiding Principles published in 2018. Rachel is passionate about qualitative research, evidenced based practice and listening to patients to ensure we deliver the most effective care in the most appropriate way.

PA to the CEO and provides administrative support to the Patient Advisory Group (PAG).