Forward looks for: 2007/8   2005/6   2002/3
Review for: 2006/7   2004/5

SRP in 2007/8
President's forward look
Sheila Liddle FSRP

Presented at the scientific meeting in Keele on 25 April 2007

PowerPoint presentation 330KB

top of page

SRP in 2006/7
President's review
Cathy Griffiths OBE MSRP

Presented at the Annual General Meeting in Keele on 24 April 2007

PowerPoint presentation

SRP in 2005/6
President's forward look
Wendy Bines OBE FSRP

Presented at the scientific meeting in Exeter on 20 April 2005

PowerPoint presentation

top of page

SRP in 2004/5
President's review
Colin Partington MBE FSRP

Presented at the Annual General Meeting in Exeter on 20 April 2005

PowerPoint presentation 700KB

Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to present a summary of the events and issues - our successes and learning opportunities - that the Society has been involved in over the past year.

To begin I would like to remind you of the amount of effort and expertise that our members put into the running of our Society.  Over 100 members sit on over eighteen committees and groups providing us with a highly respected and valued professional body that continues to grow and be recognised as the leading radiation protection body in the country.  On your behalf I would like to thank all of those hard working committee members. On the international front, together with our partner societies in the UK we are the second largest radiation protection professional body in the world.  But the primary purpose of the Society is to serve its members and that is what I want to start with.

Our Events Committee continues to provide a highly professional and pleasurable series of conferences and seminars.

•  In January we were protecting biota from ionising radiation.
•  In April, at our AGM meeting we covered a range of topics in radiation protection from cradle to grave.
•  In June we looked at the delicate topic of radiological terrorism - its prevention and response.
•  In the regions the Scottish and South West regions have been busy running regional conferences on a variety of topics including risk and radiation protection advisers.
•  The Society provided an input into a focus session at the UK Radiological Congress in Manchester.
•  The Radiation Protection Topic Group held two very well attended and valuable workshops on clearance and exemption.  As a result some of the UK's guidance on the subject was amended.

It is equally important to network across our partner societies and I had the pleasure of attending the annual dinners of the Association of University Radiation Protection Officers in Belfast and of the Institute of Physics in Engineering and Medicine in York.

Internationally, I had the huge honour of leading the UK's delegation to IRPA 11 in Madrid, where we all worked very hard to persuade the delegates from all the IRPA countries that Glasgow was the very best place in the world to hold IRPA 12 in 2008. We believed that Glasgow is smiles better that Buenos Aires or Helsinki.  Our bid was very professionally put together and well received, but the time was right for Argentina to host the next IRPA congress and they won the bid.  We also worked hard to promote Bobby Corbett for a post on the IRPA Executive and after some intriguing voting, we were successful and the UK has an IRPA executive member.

One outcome of the Madrid IRPA Congress was a desire for the European societies to meet periodically and exchange ideas and move towards greater cooperation.  I was pleased to be able to go to Munich in October and meet with the other European presidents and officials.  We talked about the forthcoming ICRP Recommendations, the universal problem of recruiting to the radiation protection profession, and importantly, future strategies for cooperation in planning events across Europe to avoid clashes.

Also internationally, we have a member of the Qualifications and Professional Standards Committee on the European Platform for Education and Training in Radiation Protection.  This is an important new body aiming to harmonise the approach to training and certifying radiation protection professionals across Europe.  Currently there are very many different approaches and it may take some time to reach any uniformity, but the UK system of competency assessment was welcomed by the group.

The Qualifications and Professional Standards Committee had one of its busiest years in supporting RPA 2000 during the last year before grandfather rights expired.  We recruited a lot more assessors, brought in new streamlined processes for certification and re-certification and introduced a new certificate for laser protection advisers.  We met promises we had made about completing assessments by the year end and in January 2005 we had a total of 374 RPA 2000 certificated RPAs in the UK.  We are currently involved with the HSE in looking at the HSE Statement regarding competency requirements for RPAs in the UK.

Progress in achieving Chartered status was slow.  We applied in June 2003 and received our rejection letter in April 2004.  We asked the Privy Council to give us reasons for the failure and having received some very useful information, we will probably re-apply in 2005.  Should this route to Chartered status not succeed then we will consider Chartered status through the Science Council, as has our Partner Society, the IPEM.

One of the most important things that have taken place during the year was the work towards merging the Society for Radiological Protection and the Institute of Radiation Protection.  This has culminated in this presentation to our annual general meeting following an identical presentation to the annual general meeting of the Institute.  The key points are:-

•  The name of the Society will not change.
•  Our letterheads will contain "incorporating the Institute of Radiation Protection"
•  The Society objects and Rules will not change.
•  IRP members will transfer on a like-for-like membership class.
•  IRP will have a co-opted seat on Council for two years.
•  IRP will have seats on the Practical Radiation Protection Topic Group, the Non-Nuclear Sectorial Committee and the Awards Committee.
•  IRP assets will be used towards a new award for young members.
•  Transferring IRP members will be subject to SRP fees from date of transfer.

(The AGM unanimously agreed, and the IRP President then stated that the IRP AGM had also agreed to the merger)

Work will now proceed to make the merger happen.

In summary in 2004 we:

•  Lost the bid to host IRPA 12
•  Won a seat on the IRPA Executive
•  Held many successful events
•  Increased our membership
•  Met promises about RPA certification
•  Not yet become Chartered
•  Welcome IRP members

top of page

SRP in 2002/3
President's forward look
Mike Marshall, Incoming President

The role of the SRP - a forward look

Presented at the SRP Scientific Meeting, The Changing Role of the Radiation Protection Professional, Reardon Smith Lecture Theatre, National Museum, Cardiff, 17 April 2002

What follows are my own views which do not necessarily agree with those of SRP Council.

We have heard much in the last two days about the changing role of the radiation protection professional. How does the SRP fit into this? It is important that SRP not only keeps abreast of developments, but also makes a contribution to those developments.

The SRP is not a revolutionary organisation but has evolved and continues to evolve to meet changing circumstances. Its basic aims have changed little but the emphasis and implementation of those aims has moved on.

A brief history may help to put the current and possible future role of the SRP into context.

Next year's AGM will see the 40th anniversary of the Society. It started as the UK section of the Health Physics Society (HPS) in May 1963. After some two and a half years it broke away as the Society for Radiological Protection. Initial aims as a branch of the HPS included:

• to hold scientific meetings;
• to forge links with other UK societies with interests in radiation protection; and
• to forge links with other national societies in Europe.

"to aid in the development of the scientific, technological, medical and legal aspects of radiological protection, including nuclear safety and allied subjects in the manner of a learned society and to promote and improve radiological protection as a profession".

(a) to promote and advance the science and art of radiological protection and allied fields;
(b) to promote, advance and disseminate, to the public advantage, knowledge of radiological protection and allied fields;
(c) to encourage, support, promote and advance education and learning in radiological protection and allied fields;
(d) to promote and encourage high scientific, educational, regulatory and professional standards in radiological protection and allied fields.

• Scientific Meetings
• Publications
• Communications
• Qualifications and professional recognition
• Influence
• International matters:
• Awards
• Structure of the Society

Scientific Meetings

From the beginning the SRP has normally held three to four, normally one-day, scientific meetings each year. In recent years the meeting associated with the AGM has often been a two-day, and last year for the first time, a three-day meeting. The AGM meeting and one other are now normally held outside London. Week-long international meetings are arranged every four years where possible.

These meetings have covered a wide range of topics and are aimed at advancing radiological protection and educating those attending. The Scientific Programme Committee and Council continually review the meeting arrangements. In recent years the main meetings have been supplemented by workshops, road shows (e.g. to consult and provide information on the IRRs) and local meetings.

The content of meetings has changed to reflect the interests at the time. Early meetings were mainly concerned with technical matters while modern meetings are often more concerned with social and regulatory issues.

A major benefit of meetings is that it allows people to meet and talk informally outside the meeting proper.

I see meetings continuing much as at present but the frequency, duration, content and location are constantly being reviewed.

Publications

From 1967-80 a newsletter was published which was replaced by the Journal of Radiological Protection (JRP) in 1981. Since then the Journal has grown in stature to become a well-respected international journal. It is important that it continues. The current growth in electronic communication will of course have an effect on JRP as on other journals.

A new newsletter was started in 1996 to provide information to SRP members. This continues to be a useful publication for members which should continue. However, there could be advantages in making it normally available through the members only section of the SRP website but with a printed version still being available to those that required it.

Communications

The SRP website was set up in 1997. It is a mine of information and also has extensive links to other related sites. Much of the site is open to all although there is also a members only section. The site has a no-nonsense approach and does not slow down transmission with lots of pretty pictures and effects. For someone on the end of a modem line I find this a boon.

Many of the SRP committees and groups have contributed to the site and continue to do so. I could probably fill this talk with a list of the available information so will only suggest that you visit the site at www.srp-uk.org. It includes much educational material for the public and information for the professional. The Communications Group. a committee of SRP, are very active in developing and adding to the site which must continue to have a major role in the future.

An e-mail discussion group started in 2000 which is open to all, members and non-members alike. At the latest count there were 553 members, many of whom are the silent majority but if you have a question, information or a gripe in the radiological protection field, this could be the place to air it. An active e-group is an excellent means of communication and discussion.

I am aware that not everyone has access to the web and e-mail. Where possible the SRP Admin. Office will provide copies of documentation to members on request.

Qualifications and professional recognition

Certification as an RPA or specialist has evolved from 1979 and became a joint scheme with IPEM and AURPO. To satisfy the requirements of HSE, it is now operated by RPA2000 an independent company with SRP members on its board of directors. You heard about the portfolio required for this scheme from Ian Keyes this morning.

SRP also runs a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Scheme which is open to all. As it says in the notes for the scheme: "Participation in the scheme: is a useful personal aid to planning and recording you own professional development; is a guide to those areas where development is beneficial to you; is a guide to employers to help them recognise the importance of CPD for their staff; will help you to prove to prospective employers that you are continuing to develop professionally; and may be essential for you to continue to be a Radiation Protection Adviser."

As you heard from Colin Partington earlier, SRP is also heavily involved in NVQs - it is to be hoped that a route for assessing and awarding an NVQ at Level 4 in radiation protection will be found and used.

There is concern in some circles that there will not be sufficient radiological protection professionals to meet the demand. this needs to be kept under review and entry into the profession encouraged. The SRP produce a leaflet "A Career in Radiation Protection" which has just been updated.

Since 1987 full members of SRP have been allowed to use the designatory letters MSRP (or FSRP for fellows). For the past few years Council has been considering applying for chartered status which would allow those qualifying to be recognised as chartered members. Council would expect this to be all full members in the first instance. The debate on the pros and cons continues in the newsletter and on the e-group. As an individual I find the advantages and disadvantages finely balanced at present but I do feel that we should look into it further. An informal approach is to be made to the Privy Council to find out what are the possibilities.

Of course such a step could have an effect on other societies with an interest in radiation protection and we are or will be talking to these to discuss our proposals and their views.

Influence

What influence does the Society have on government, the media and the public?

I believe that the Society needs to become more active in this area. We do get involved in matters relating to professional development but have hesitated to express opinions on radiological protection matters. We all know the story that that if you ask four health physicists a question you will get five different answers. How does one form a Society view? Particularly at short notice, it is not possible to reach a concensus. However, I believe that chosen, experienced members of the Society should express opinions on its behalf. I fully support current SRP moves looking at improving our contacts with the media.

Judith Petts talked yesterday about the dealing with risk communication and showed that good risk communication is not an easy task. Doing it effectively will require considerable effort but it is not something that we should shy away from.

International matters

All those belonging to one of the partner societies of SRP (AURPO, BIR, BNMS, COR, IPEM, IRP, RCR) may join IRPA (International Radiation Protection Association) through the International Committee of SRP (each country can only be represented by one society). With the second largest international membership after the USA HPS, the SRP maintains strong links with IRPA. It also has good relations with other European societies and encourages developing societies world wide.

Awards

These exist to recognise achievement but mainly to encourage involvement in radiation protection through bursaries and other educational and career support. There are a number of regular awards but ad-hoc awards may be made where there is a need.

Structure of the Society

The Society structure is not cast in stone. Over the past few years we have formed topic groups and regional groups within the Society. The Practical Radiation Protection Topic Group and the Regulation, Legislation and Standards Topic Group not only arrange meetings or workshops but are active in compiling information which is made available on the web. Members have come forward to set up Regional Groups which hold regional scientific meetings and provide a focus for local members to discuss matters of mutual interest. Two are well established in the North West and Scotland and another has just been formed in the South West.

As the Society continues to grow and it may be that groups should be formed to reflect the different work sectors which require radiological protection practitioners and the SRP will consider this.

The operation of SRP has been very effective over the years, thanks to the goodwill and informal communication between the various committees. It is important that this interaction continues. However, the question "Is the committee structure appropriate for the current state of the Society?" needs to be asked from time to time and will be a matter to be considered in the next year.

Conclusions

I believe that the SRP works well and is responsive to changing conditions and the needs of members and potential members. This does not mean that we have got it all right and, indeed, what is right today may not be right tomorrow.

In the modern world we need to seriously consider the status of the society and its members and how this can be improved.

We also need to raise our profile in providing advice to government and international organisations and being seen as a source of reliable and timely information for the media and the public.

We also need to ensure that the structure of the Society best meets the needs of members and potential members and that the Society operates efficiently and effectively.

These are not easy matters and I look forward to an interesting year as President of SRP.

top of page