Message from the Chair
Hello everyone,
I hope you’re all well and have managed to take advantage of some of the recent sunshine. Here are some snippets of news to keep you up to date with what’s happening in the Institute.
Apprenticeship
As employers in England were being encouraged to find an apprenticeship for staff training to allow them to utilise the apprenticeship levy that organisations were paying into, a Trailblazer group was set up in 2018 to develop a Clinical Photographer Apprenticeship. In 2020, the apprenticeship was approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, but a Higher Education Institute (HEI) to deliver the taught element needed to be found. Although extensive search was undertaken, there was no HEI willing to deliver the taught element of the apprenticeship. In 2021, together with the Chair of IMI and the Education Lead, it was decided to no longer pursue the apprenticeship currently. Instead IMI will explore the possibility of Gloucestershire University delivering a full time Undergraduate Degree in Clinical Photography. Our thanks go to all involved with the Trailblazer group, in particular Bolette Jones and David Bishop.
Conference
This year has seen an unprecedented high number of early bookings for the annual conference. This perhaps reflects the fact this is our first full face to face conference since 2019. Anyway, as I type there is only a handful of rooms still available at the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel which is the conference venue. So, if you are planning to go (and the conference team have done a brilliant job and produced a fantastic programme) then book as soon as you can. In the meantime, we are investigating other potential accommodation nearby.
https://www.imi.org.uk/events/imi-conference-in-clydebank-glasgow/
Nominations
Time is running out for nominations for the posts of Chairman Elect, and the Council Representative for Ireland, as the closing date is July 8th, so only two weeks away. Please think about who would be good in these roles and complete the nomination form which can be found here. https://www.imi.org.uk/account/imi-nominations-2022/
Regional Reps coordinator
Talking of national reps on Council, at the last Council meeting a couple of weeks ago a decision was taken not to replace the vacant role of Regional Reps coordinator. Instead, these tasks will be taken on by each of the four national representatives who will liaise closely with the regional reps in their respective countries.
Online workshop – Mastering your print workflow
Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to join a number of other members at the online workshop presented by Michael O’Sullivan. It was a very clear step by step guide to managing colour workflow for print and although I knew some of the basics, there was a lot I didn’t know so the session proved to be very helpful. It was recorded so a link should be available on the website before too long. Keep an eye out for that as it is well worth catching up with and having for future reference.
A sad loss to the profession
I’m sad to report that Derek Winkles died last week. Derek was a graphic designer of considerable talent and although he was only an Institute member for a short spell, he gave much support to IMI including creating its current branding and producing the layout for last year’s IMI Awards brochure. Derek will be sadly missed, and our condolences go to his family and friends and his colleagues at University Hospitals, Birmingham.
CPD
There hasn’t been an audit of members’ CPD records since 2018 but on June 30th 3% of the AHCS registered IMI membership will receive an email informing them they are one of the lucky few to be selected for an audit this year. They will then have a deadline for submission of August 30th to work towards. If you need any help or advice about this contact cpd@imi.org.uk
Uniforms for England
Although Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have standardised national uniforms for their health care professions England does not. However, change is imminent and an article explaining the process so far and the future pathway will be appearing in the next edition of IMI News. So, if your department doesn’t currently have uniforms for the clinical photographers but is thinking about it, it’ll be worth pausing until you’ve read that update.
Future messages
That’s it for now but I’m intending to make this more regular and aiming to put out a message on the last Friday of each month. In the meantime, I’m sure some of you will have summer breaks looming so enjoy those and for those whose holidays are further away, hold tight, I’m sure you’ll be so busy at work that your time off will be here before you know it.