Radiographers at Ipswich Hospital have spoken of watching colleagues “cry on a regular basis” as they took part in a national 48-hour strike.

The action has been organised by the Society of Radiographers to tackle what it described as “chronic staff shortages” in the profession, which the trade union says have left one million patients on NHS waiting lists.

But the boss of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals said the strike will lead to cancelled operations, as well as scans.

On Tuesday morning, many radiographers were at the picket line at the main entrance to Ipswich Hospital in Heath Road, where many will return on Wednesday morning.

“We're seeing our colleagues crying on a regular basis and lots of people are leaving the profession," said Kellie Myers, diagnostic radiographer in East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which manages Ipswich and Colchester hospitals.

Ipswich Star:

Gemma Bourne, a therapeutic radiographer, added: "The government recently offered other public sector workers a higher pay rise than any of the NHS Agenda for Change staff.

“That's really impacting recruitment and it will impact our retention. We already have newly-qualifieds talking about leaving the profession.

"We're just asking for the same support to help us future-proof this profession.”

About 90% of patients in the NHS are seen by a radiographer, according to the trade union.

They are responsible for carrying out X-rays, MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds, and breast screening, as well as radiotherapy for cancer patients.

But now a million patients are waiting to be seen by one, which could delay crucial diagnosis and treatment.

Ipswich Star:

The trade union is calling for a higher starting salary for radiographers and a move to restore pay levels for staff over several years, in line with inflation rising.

Nick Hulme, chief executive of ESNEFT, told Times Radio on Tuesday: "Yesterday across Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, we did 1,500 different examinations and scans and today we are doing 265, so it’s less than 20% of what we’d normally do.

“I think it’s important to recognise it’s not just in the scanning departments where radiographers have a really, really important role – so they work very closely with our surgeons and in the operating theatres for the guided operations that we need to perform – so we’re also losing 58 operations today which is obviously really, really distressing for those patients.”