Publish date: 14 October 2024
The Trust will be celebrating Allied Health Professions (AHP) Day on Monday 14 October. The aim of the day is to bring together AHPs and their teams to recognise the vital role they play in healthcare.
Did you know that AHPs are the third-largest clinical workforce in the health and care sector?
They play a pivotal role in supporting the NHS Long Term Plan and delivering high-quality care across a wide range of settings.
This year’s AHP Day theme, "Quality and Safety," aligns with the AHP Strategy for England (2022–2027) , AHPs deliver. It underscores the essential work AHPs do to provide exceptional care to the people and communities we support.
Helen Lycett, Associate Director of AHPs, expressed her gratitude for the dedication of AHPs across the Trust:
"I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all AHPs working in the Trust for everything you do. Not only for providing high-quality patient care but also for enabling the development of our future workforce by supporting students and apprentices. Your role is essential, and I hope you take time to celebrate AHP Day with your teams and reflect on your successes since last year’s event."
A key part of our commitment to providing exceptional care is investing in the future, particularly through apprenticeship programs.
Since the Trust’s first occupational therapist apprenticeship in 2019, the number of apprenticeships has steadily grown, starting with four per year, and increasing to 10 in the current academic year(2023/2024). This represents a 57% increase in AHP apprentices from last year, a significant step toward addressing workforce needs.
The majority of these apprentices come from within the Trust, with many internal candidates supported to advance their careers.
Notably, 63% of the apprentices identify as being from a Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background, reflecting the diversity of the local population we serve.
Currently, the Trust offers Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker (SHSW), Level 5 Assistant Practitioner, Level 6 and 7 Occupational Therapy, and Level 6 Physiotherapy apprenticeships.
Plans are also in place to introduce Speech and Language Therapy, Dietetics, Arts Therapies, and Paramedic apprenticeships to address workforce shortages across other AHP professions.
Many of our staff have personally experienced the benefits of these apprenticeship programs. Here’s what some of our apprentices had to say about their journeys:
Lisa Kalinowska, a CAMHS link worker said: 
"The experience I gained was invaluable, especially being able to rotate yearly within different services. This equipped me with a wide range of skills and helped me decide which area of practice I wanted to specialise in. It also allowed me to really absorb and put into practice the academic elements of the course."
Indy Jhutti, an occupational therapy technician in the Older People Mental Health Service, said:
"The apprenticeship programme was a key gateway to a change in career for me and opened an extensive range of opportunities. The individuals I worked with were instrumental in supporting me along the way. I cannot express my gratitude enough and am now a strong advocate for the apprenticeship route into an AHP career."
Earlier this year, the AHP education team was invited to the House of Commons after being shortlisted for a national Further Education, skills and apprenticeship (FE) Week and Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) Annual Apprenticeship Conference (AAC) Award. They were recognised in the 'Widening Participation through Apprenticeships' category for their outstanding work in recruiting a diverse range of candidates into the Trust's AHP apprenticeship programmes.
We're also pleased to share that Krupa Patel of the AHP International Recruitment Team was selected as a runner up for a Chief Allied Health Professions Award last week in the Workforce Transformation category. Congratulations Krupa.
As we celebrate AHP Day, let’s not only acknowledge the incredible achievements of our AHP teams but also reaffirm our commitment to providing high-quality, safe care and building a robust future workforce.
Happy AHP Day to all our AHPs, and thank you for everything you do!