Members of the Society of Radiographers have voted to reject Agenda for Change for a second time.
The result of the ballot, announced on Friday 1 October, shows that 83% of members voted against the proposals and 17% voted to accept them.
A total of 11,398 members of the Society voted, representing 67% of the people eligible to vote. Electoral Reform Services, an independent administrator of elections, held the ballot on behalf of the Society.
Negotiations are now being held with the Department of Health on 8 October to discuss issues such as the increase in hours and the payment of the recruitment and retention premia.
“This further refusal to accept the proposals will put pressure on the Department of Health to address the key issues that radiographers find unacceptable,” said Ann Pollard, the Society’s President.
“No one wants us to take industrial action, least of all the government, but they must understand that issues such as increased working hours for no additional pay is unacceptable to our members.The failure of the government to address this has led to a total lack of confidence in the system and continuing misgivings over the unsatisfactory on-call and emergency duty payments, as well as a structure that does not allow staff to progress smoothly through the profession,” she continued.
“We are expecting significant concessions."