On Monday 14 October, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) is celebrating this year’s national Allied Health Professionals (AHP) day; by showcasing the vital work these skilled professionals do to improve the health and wellbeing of our patients here in Morecambe Bay
The Allied Health Professionals workforce is made up of Art Therapists, Drama Therapists, Music Therapists, Chiropodists and Podiatrists, Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Operating Department Practitioners (ODPs), Orthoptists, Osteopaths, Paramedics, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists and Orthotists, Radiographers and Speech and Language Therapists.
With so many professions being a part of the AHP group, it makes it the third largest workforce in the NHS. Their work is vital to delivering effective and quality healthcare. They are beside the patient throughout their recovery, often supporting them back to independence. Being such an integral part of the clinical pathway and giving patients the confidence to overcome barriers can create highly rewarding moments that fill colleagues with great pride.
We spoke to three AHPs, Joanne Stephenson, a Speech and Language Therapist Assistant, Katie Carey a Specialist Physiotherapist and Adelle Blacow a Specialist Dietitian. We asked them to share a moment that made them proud when performing their role and their responses were overwhelmingly positive.
Joanne who works in the Adult Speech and Language Therapy team has a varied role that sees her providing administration and business support as well as being an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Specialist. When speaking of her pride she said:
“It’s really difficult to pick one proud moment, as my clinical role makes me proud every day, as I am supporting patients to have a voice when they are facing difficulties that come with a life changing neurological condition. Speech is so important for a person’s identity, social interaction and gives them a chance to express their own decisions and opinions to their friends, family and professionals helping with their care.
“A really positive part of my job is supporting people to bank their voice; this allows the patient to plan ahead for their changes in speech and means they can use a device in the future with their own voice on it. Patients really like the fact that they will not have to sound like a “robot” in the future. I love the fact that I am providing some positive support during this time which is bespoke to their individual needs.
“I work closely with the Regional AAC Hub, ACE Centre, who can assess and provide high tech equipment for AAC for our patients. A few years ago, I was nominated by their team for an award for Inspiring Individual in AAC, I didn’t win but the nomination itself was a very proud moment. ACE also asked me to speak at their conference around the work I do locally in the community to share with other AAC Practitioners.
"I work with an amazing team of Speech and Language Therapists who really go over and above to support their patients, I am very proud to be part of such an amazing team.”
Katie who has worked as Physiotherapist in the NHS for 23 years spoke glowingly when asked if her job filled her with pride:
“I can't imagine a better job! Being a Physiotherapist allows so much variety and no two days are ever quite the same. There have been so many proud moments during my working career, but one that comes to mind was during the pandemic.
“I had recently changed roles from working in intensive care to joining the Community Respiratory team as the Physiotherapist for the COVID Recovery Service. I was visiting a patient at home who had been really unwell and had a long hospital stay with COVID-19.
“Alongside other members of the multi-disciplinary team, I assisted this patient in strength, mobility, confidence, breathlessness and fatigue management and the patient achieved their goal of being able to walk the small hill outside of their property and go out for coffee with friends.
“This patient gave me feedback on the service I'd provided and described me as the "shining light at the end of a very dark tunnel". It's a real privilege to have a positive impact on people's lives and be a part of their journey and these moments make me proud to be a physiotherapist."
Adelle ha
s worked as Specialist Dietitian for 10 years and spoke about the pride of overcoming the challenges her and the team regularly face:
“My role as a Community Dietitian has varied immensely over this time. More recently the Covid-19 pandemic and financial pressures have brought many challenges and uncertainties. As a department we have embraced new medias for conducting patient assessments virtually whilst trying to balance the delivery of great patient centred care.
“I work with some of the most dedicated and supportive colleagues who make me happy to come to work every day. As a community team we have worked hard over the past 12 months to transform the dietetic delivery of care model for patients who are enterally fed in the community. Recent feedback from this patient group and their carers, highlighting their gratitude for the personalised and timely care received, makes me proud to be a dietitian and reminds me why I chose this career path.”
These stories encapsulate the fantastic effect that AHPs have on patients' lives every single day. UHMBT is proud to celebrate all our AHPs and their drive and commitment to improving the lives of our patients.
Tony Crick, Chief Allied Health Professional and Healthcare Scientist at UHMBT, said:
“The AHPs in UHMBT make me proud every single day by their commitment to provision of the services to our patients. Be that our Radiology colleagues ensuring that patients getting their investigations done in a timely manner to ensure treatment occurs as soon as possible to our Speech and Language colleagues ensuring that patient receiving the assessment and treatment required for their condition.
“We also work closely with our local Paramedics who are employed through the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), Occupational Therapists who are employed by the local authorities and Orthotists who work with us through a Service Level Agreement.”
See more information on AHPs Day on the NHS England website, have a look on social media and search #AHPsDay.