Colleagues across East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are celebrating National Allied Health Professionals Day today - a day to say thanks and celebrate all the amazing work AHP’s do across the Trust to provide Safe, Personal and Effective Care to our patients.
As part of the celebrations, we spoke to Alison Turner, Associate Director for Allied Health Professionals at the Trust.
“Hi, my name is Alison Turner and I am the Associate Director for Allied Health Professions and Healthcare Scientists at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust. This week we have been celebrating the role and contribution that the Allied Health Professions make to our delivery of Safe, Personal and Effective care here at ELHT. Throughout the week leading up to AHP Day, we have been celebrating and showcasing some of the incredible contributions AHP colleagues have made in the past year on our social media pages.
Our patients need access to a wide variety of different sets of skills and knowledge for us to best meet their needs. This is where the Allied Health Professions each make their unique and individual contributions. They bring additional skills to contribute to patient care alongside our larger clinical staff groups such as doctors and nurses.
Who are the Allied Health Professions?
There are 14 unique and different Allied Health Professions and in ELHT we have ten of these professional groups (The ones in bold):
· Operating Department Practitioners
· Radiographers
· Podiatrists
· Speech and Language Therapists
· Occupational Therapists
· Orthoptists
· Orthotists
· Dietitians
· Physiotherapists
· Art Therapists
· Drama Therapists
· Music Therapists
· Osteopaths
· Paramedics
Each of these professional groups are highly trained to have a specific skill set and knowledge base that we need in healthcare and they each make their own distinct contribution.
For example:
- Without Radiographers we would not have the skills and knowledge to take effective images of patients that help diagnose medical problems
- Speech and Language Therapists are experts in the anatomy of the head and neck. As well as understanding the mechanisms of speech they have expertise in swallowing and can support patients who have speech, language and communication difficulties
- Operating Department Practitioners are specifically trained to take care of patients at all stages of the surgical pathway from anaesthetics, to surgery and through recovery
- Orthotists improve peoples’ ability to move freely. They are highly trained to correct problems or deformities in nerves, muscles and bones with a range of aids including spinal braces and specialist footwear. Many of which they make specifically for the patient.
Whilst these professional groups of staff are smaller in number than the larger medical and nursing workforces, collectively as AHPs they are the third largest staff group in the NHS. They are critical to the delivery of many clinical pathways with significant opportunities to support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Why Celebrate AHPs Day?
AHPs’ Day is an annual opportunity for AHPs to come together and celebrate being part of the AHP family. The day also gives an opportunity to showcase to others the impact they make to the delivery of high-quality care and enable:
- Improved awareness of the role of the fourteen allied health professions
- Showcasing the achievements of local services and their impact on patient care and population health
- Integrated working with other services and organisations
What is our specific focus for this year’s AHP Day – AHP Research Community
We are particularly appreciating the number of research activities that AHPs are involved in and the contribution these make to improving outcomes for our patients.
As well as wishing all my AHP colleagues a very happy #AHPsDay, I would also like to take this opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU to each and every one of our wonderful allied health professionals. Both registered AHPs and their amazing support workers and administrative colleagues across ELHT, who have played a significant role in the past year to our ongoing response to COVID-19. It’s been a challenging year but there is so much to be proud of and to celebrate. Let’s continue the great work and make AHPs Day 2022 an even bigger celebration!”