Radiology lead who revamped department acknowledged with award
A senior Black Country healthcare leader has been honoured with a regional award for her work in Radiography
Sharon Dhadda, radiology workforce lead at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), won the Black Country Allied Health Professional (AHP) Workforce Transformation Award.
Her award category acknowledges individual AHPs, AHP support workers or teams demonstrating transformation through innovation in AHP workforce.
Sharon heads up staffing for Radiology, which includes Diagnostic Radiography, one of 11 specialities AHPs are employed in at RWT.
The eight Black Country AHP Awards covers 2,200 registered AHPs across six NHS Trusts, RWT, Walsall Healthcare, Sandwell and West Birmingham, The Dudley Group, Dudley Integrated Health and Care Trust and Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Extended to local authority and private/voluntary sector, there are approximately 4,592 registered AHPs and 545 AHP support workers from Primary and Secondary Care in the area.
Ms Dhadda has revamped Radiology by increasing staff numbers to previously difficult-to-fill roles and introducing an apprenticeship scheme so the Trust can produce its own staff.
She said: “It’s been a wonderful experience and mainly because I have the backing and support of a fantastic team.
“I’m proud to contribute to making the patient journey better by recruiting, retaining and developing our staff, and to be recognised for this is a lovely bonus.”
Ms Dhadda was presented with her award by Sir David Nicholson KCB, CBE, Group Chair of RWT and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust at the ceremony held at West Bromwich Albion FC.
She said: “I moved into this role two years ago and didn’t expect to be able to make so many significant changes in such a short space of time.
“We’ve had many firsts, including our first Diagnostic Radiographer apprenticeship programme, our first experience of recruiting colleagues from an international profile in large numbers, and the introduction of a focused Clinical Education Team.”
Stuart Simper, head of operational radiology, nominated Ms Dhadda.
He said: “We were a struggling department understaffed in almost every area, but after Sharon became Workforce Lead, the number of staff recruited is now over 100.
“Sharon has implemented a full training team to assist junior staff to fully develop. We’re now getting applications from all over the UK.
“Her appointment made this department a sought-after place to work and her input is invaluable. She’s a fantastic member of staff.”
