What do Allied Health Professionals do for patients?

Who are the Allied Health Professionals and what do they do?

Some answers include helping someone return to playing with their children in the park, resolving double vision, taking an X-ray in A&E, helping recovery from a stroke, or working with sick children through music. During COVID-19, they were crucial to the healthcare response—whether supporting patients in intensive care or aiding recovery from the effects of the illness.

You probably already know a bit about Physiotherapists and Speech and Language Therapists, but there are actually 14 professions under the AHP umbrella, making them the third-largest group in the NHS. They work with every age group, from babies to our frailest older people.

At Chelsea and Westminster, AHPs have come together to explain their roles, their commitment to their patients, and their enthusiasm for their profession, which just shines through.

Common themes include the diversity of the work they do, the sense of being a unique and valued part of the multidisciplinary team, the various career opportunities, and—most importantly—that they love their jobs.

Jeremy Nugent is Head of AHP Professions at Chelsea and Westminster. He says, “Working as an Allied Health Professional is a really satisfying job and a great career. It’s very varied, and you get an incredible amount of satisfaction. I love being an Allied Health Professional and working in a department with colleagues who I see making a real difference in people’s lives.”

The 14 Allied Health Professions are: Art Therapists, Drama Therapists, Music Therapists, Chiropodists/Podiatrists, Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Operating Department Practitioners, Orthoptists, Osteopaths, Paramedics, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists/Orthotists, Radiographers, and Speech & Language Therapists.

A number of individual AHPs talking about their work will also be featured on our social media.

Note: Some footage in this film was taken before COVID-19 restrictions were in force. The hospital maintains COVID-19 restrictions such as masks, social distancing, and visiting restrictions in accordance with national guidance.