An NHS Tayside radiographer has been elected as president of the Society of Radiographers (SoR).
Superintendent radiographer Claire Donaldson will now head up the professional body and trade union for diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers across the UK.
Claire has been a radiographer in Tayside since 2008 and has been involved with the society since she qualified in 2005.
She started as an industrial relations representative and then took on various roles within Scotland before becoming a UK Council member for the SoR in 2014.
Claire was then elected as vice president in 2019.
Now as head of the organisation, she has major leadership responsibilities within the organisation, including line managing the chief executive officer.
“This role will allow me to work with our organisation and others to have input and influence on professional policy, as well as the work with the trade union to ensure good representation of our members and fair terms and conditions for all workers,” said Claire.
“As we come out of COVID restrictions, I hope I will be able to get out and about to meet members of the SoR throughout the UK.
“As president, I will get to make connections with key people who have influence over both radiographers and the wider allied health professions and NHS staff in the regions and countries of the UK and want to be able to bring the work of NHS Tayside into these conversations wherever possible.
“It’s a great privilege to be the 84th president of the SoR and the culmination of a lot of hard work in addition to my full-time job with NHS Tayside.
“I have had great support from line managers and colleagues in radiology to allow me time to be involved in the SoR and want to thank them all for this, as without their support I would not have been able to achieve this position.
“One area I will be focusing on during my year as president of the SoR is improving the diversity of representation within the boards and advisory groups of the SoR.
“As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I hold equality, diversity and inclusion as key to any work that I do and we are working towards the SoR being a fully inclusive, anti-racist organisation.
“As a founding member of NHS Tayside’s LGBTQ Staff Network, EqualiTAY, this will mesh in well with the work of other staff networks here in Tayside.”
