Therapeutic radiographers

At Newcastle Hospitals our therapeutic radiographers harness their technological expertise to plan, manage and deliver highly advanced accurate radiotherapy for cancer patients of all ages at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, both in Newcastle and in Cumbria.

Therapeutic radiography is an ever evolving field of healthcare as we constantly seek ever better, more effective treatment techniques which means our therapeutic radiographers never stop learning.

Our expertise and pioneering approach to embracing the most up to date radiotherapy techniques means that Newcastle Hospitals is a reference site for many major global providers of scanning equipment and treatment delivery systems.

As such we are committed to ensuring our staff have the opportunity to access to and learn all they can about the latest advances around the world which we believe is key to future proofing an exciting and fulfilling career.

CPD support at Newcastle Hospitals

Career aspirations can be discussed at annual appraisals in close liaison with line managers, or at any other time of the year, to help understand and plan how we can help you to take steps forward and achieve your goals.

For example, you may wish to specialise in a particular area of practice or explore teaching or research. Further training can support you to prepare for a future role – you may wish to become an advanced clinical practitioner or progress into management.

Annual appraisals help to shape personal development plans to set out learning opportunities which can be provided either in-house or externally.

Choosing the right CPD for you

There is a huge and diverse range of learning and development opportunities for you to choose from. We offer a wide variety of courses which are run in-house by our Education Workforce Development team and you can seek advice from our team here at the Newcastle Clinical Skills Academy about what might work for you.

If it’s something relating to leadership that you’re looking for then head to the Leadership section of our website to find out more.

If you have a particular interest in research then our section on how to #MakeSpace4Research will tell you everything you need to know.

Health and Care Professions Council

As Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) Diagnostic Radiographers are members of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and are required to meet the HCPC’s 5 CPD standards.

Updating your CPD profile

Keeping an up-to-date file of progress which documents your activities and achievements so that you have this to hand at any time should you be asked to provide it.

The HCPC carry out an audit of Radiographers every 2 years when they select 2.5% to present them with CPD activities.

You can find out more about how to fill in a CPD profile and see lots of examples of CPD activities on the Health and Care Professions Council website

Society of Radiographers (SOR)

Radiography encompasses multiple imaging modalities and there are distinct professional roles for those practicing in diagnostic, therapeutic and nuclear medicine branches of the profession – CPD activity needs to account for a wide spectrum of needs.

The SOR offers an extensive range of personal and professional support to assist its members in upholding the highest standards of practice and to develop themselves continually throughout their career.

To maintain and enhance their professionalism and competence Therapeutic Radiographers are expected to:

• Actively engage in CPD
• Document and evidence their CPD
• Apply learning from CPD to their practice

The SOR website has a holds a wealth of useful information and advice around:

• Learning and advice
• Employment support
• Events
• Students
• Jobs etc.

There are also CPD templates to help plan, record and evaluate learning from different situations and experiences.

Universities

These are the two Universities in England where staff can seek Masters study. 

As a practising therapeutic radiographer, this unique programme will allow you to ‘top up’ to convert a pre-reg MSc to obtain a complete Masters qualification.

Sheffield offers a wide range of hands-on radiotherapy and oncology degree courses, developed in consultation with our health sector partners and is a great source of information for staff seeking career progress into enhanced and expert practice roles.

This award-winning therapeutic radiographer led oncology podcast looks at topical radiotherapy issues with reflective questions on each episode and is CPD accredited.