BAPO have just released additional dates for the MSK course. To book please go to the members section and either sign into your account if you are a member or for non-members create a temporary account to book electronically
This course is now full
BAPO are proud to announce 2 new dates for the popular KAFO ‘In the Perfect World Course’. We expect this course to fill up quite fast and there are limited places so please book now to avoid disappointment
This course is for technicians and clinicians alike. It aims to address the problems associated with information exchange between professional groups within the industry, and how they can be compounded through a lack of experience, confidence, and understanding, between both cohorts. Our aim is to highlight simple steps in the patient journey and technical process that will save time, money, and variability in practice and improve outcome in both clinical and manufacturing terms. We will try to make up for the fact we don’t live in a perfect world, so will present many tips and tricks to simplify our collective practice
TO BOOK: log onto the members area, or if not a members – complete the non members section
BAPO are proud to continue to facilitate the amazing MSK Foot and Ankle – Holistic Management and Treatment Strategies Course. Led by Simon Dickinson, Laura Barr and Chris Cox.
If you haven’t attended yet this is a course not to miss!
TO BOOK: log onto the members area, or if not a members – complete the non members section
Do you want to learn more about this innovative outcome measure? Don’t miss out and book your place on our online workshop today!
With the first ever Prosthetists and Orthotists (P&O) Day only days away the British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO) is reminding prosthetists and orthotists to support the awareness day in their own services and organisations.
Taking place on the 8th September 2021, the awareness day aims to raise the profile of the two disciplines primarily with other health and care professionals. The day will provide the opportunity for prosthetists and orthotists to celebrate the profession and the benefit these roles have for patients accessing the services.
A suite of case studies is being prepared, based on information shared from prosthetists and orthotists across the country, to demonstrate the role the profession play in promoting patient wellbeing, health and rehabilitation.
There is also a P&O Day toolkit which includes various assets – social media content, website banners, posters etc – for BAPO members to use throughout their organisations and networks to raise the profile of the awareness day. The toolkit can be accessed here.
If you have got a case study or success story to share about the P&O profession, please complete the template which can be found on the P&O Day page on the BAPO website and return it by 31 August 2021
The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists (BAPO) is delighted to announce our inaugural ‘Prosthetists and Orthotists Day’ on 8 September 2021.
The awareness day aims to raise the profile of the two roles with both health and care professionals and the general public. The day will provide the opportunity for Prosthetists and Orthotists to celebrate their profession and the benefit these roles have for those patients who access the services they provide.
The P&O Day 2021 working group is developing a series of case studies to demonstrate the role Prosthetists and Orthotists play in promoting patient wellbeing, health and rehabilitation. The team will also be creating a P&O Day toolkit which will include various assets for BAPO members to share on their social media platforms and throughout their organisations and networks.
Nicky Eddison, Chair of BAPO’s Professional Affairs Committee said: “It’s incredibly important to shine a light on the great work Prosthetists and Orthotists do every day, highlight the positive impact we have on our service users and to take the time to celebrate our profession. I hope the new national P&O Day will raise the profile of our professions, highlight the difference we make to people’s lives and help our wider colleagues gain a better understanding of the work we do and our unique skill set.”
Please add the date – 8 September 2021 – to your diary and share the details of the awareness day with your Trust. Also, if you have a case study or success story to share about you or your team’s role as a P&O professional, please email it to enquiries@bapo.com
The Chief Allied Health Professions Officer awards are a unique opportunity for Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), either nominated by their peers or by themselves, to receive recognition for their personal contributions towards delivery of exceptional care for patients.
For More information or nomination criteria see NHS Englands website
The Current Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) strategy ‘AHPs into Action is coming to an end in 2022 and so our CAHPO (Chief Allied Health Professionals Officer) is now starting a consultation period for its successor.
The aim is for the content to be crowed sourced from both professionals and ‘citizens’ and will be split into 3 sections to allow views to be sourced from all parties
The first group ‘citizen’s’ can register now to have there say at the AHPListens website please share this link amongst colleagues, patients, family and friends.
Prosthetists and Orthotists can also sign up to the first national conversation in their capacity as citizens who also use health care services but the second conversation in may will be aimed at capturing your views as a professional
For more information see the attached covering letter from the campaign:
HCPC have advised they have some new process and help in place for those returning to practice, taking into considerations the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, The updates are as follows:
Timescales
Our returning to practice processes will take account of the impact COVID-19 may have had on the timescales within which returnees have been able to complete their period of updating.
We would usually require that all of an applicant’s updating is completed, from start to finish, within the 12 months before they apply for registration or readmission.
We are temporarily extending this period to 24 months.
Evidence of Supervised Practice
We will support returnees in using evidence of practice as a temporary registrant as proof of ‘supervised practice’, where appropriate.
Our requirements around supervised practice are already permissive and we do not set detailed guidance for supervisors because we believe that the level of supervision needed and the tasks carried out will depend on the returner’s specific learning needs.
We appreciate the challenges COVID-19 will have presented in this regard and will allow supervisors to make their own judgements on what level of supervision is/has been possible during the pandemic.
Alternative Forms of Study
We will consider alternative forms of ‘formal study’ gained during the COVID-19 pandemic, where these are reasonable and give rise to similar levels of learning.
It will be for applicants to justify this in their returning to practice form; and we will be as flexible as possible in considering alternatives.
Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) – how my eyes were opened to these wonderful careers
Physiotherapist and former Health Education England Leadership Fellow Marie-Clare Wadley began filming some of her colleagues – and discovered incredibly rewarding ‘secret’ careers that provide essential support to patients. Here she describes her experience.
For those receiving A-level results and still wondering about their next steps, or looking for inspiration on the Health Education England Health Careers website, the NHS offers a quite amazing range of careers. Ask anyone in the street and some of the most obvious will spring to mind – doctor, nurse, paramedic – but some of the most critical and really rewarding jobs are unlikely to trip off the tongue quite so readily.
How many people even know what an allied health professional is? Well, the term actually refers to 14 different occupations, namely art therapists, dietitians, dramatherapists, music therapists, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, osteopaths, paramedics, physiotherapists, podiatrists, prosthetists and orthotists, diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers and speech and language therapists.
I’m a physiotherapist, and when I started out I believed it was the best job ever in health care. I’m a physiotherapist through and through – I get to work with other great professions, both registered and non-registered people who all have the same common goal, and that’s patient-centred care. As my career progressed I started to open my eye and look beyond my own immediate world of work.
I’m a gadget girl – l love looking at life and learning in a different way. I guess being dyslexic made me use other parts of my brain to learn rather than just relying on words – images, imagination or a Marvel film any day. I used to sit and dream of the time I could just point at the air and create a sequence of exercises in three dimensions. The idea of a holographic Allied Health Professional came to mind.
I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity of an AHP Leadership Fellowship with Health Education England. This led me on a journey which opened my eyes to just how diverse and special these AHP roles are. Take podiatry, for example. Think about the horrific complications of a diabetic foot ulcer which, if not treated properly and early enough, can lead to drastic outcomes such as amputation. Which leads us on to prosthetists and orthotists – the ones who, if you’ve had an amputation, can guide your recovery by making bespoke equipment to help you walk.
We are all interconnected. My knowledge really grew when I came up with the idea of making a series of immersive, virtual reality films about the day in the life of an AHP, and it dawned on me that I didn’t really have a clue what these amazing professions did. The first film was Prosthetics and Orthotics in Oxford, where I had worked for years but had never taken the time to discover how important these professions are, even though I have treated many people with amputations over the years. I experienced watching a child be able to kick a ball in the playground with his new orthotics, and seeing a young man who had lost his leg in a road accident perform his traditional street dance Capoeira with his artificial limb brought tears to my eyes.
Watching a combination of technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and prosthetists assess, support and adjust his limb to reduce the pressure on what was left of his lower leg was captivating – a combination of technology, teamwork, skill and professionalism all wrapped up in a humanistic and caring approach which made me very proud to be an AHP working in the NHS.
Yes, these careers aren’t always at the forefront of people’s minds but they are definitely vital. Think about therapeutic radiographers, whose precise technique and highly-specialised training helps cure our loved ones of cancer. And I didn’t even really know what an orthoptist was until I filmed them helping children with visual difficulties and adults with increasing sight loss. I watched their incredible expertise, injecting eyes and pushing to the limit to ensure people with failing sight get the right treatment with the right expert at the right time.
When I started my filming, it was a project. Now it’s a passion, and I want everyone to understand these amazing, rewarding and vital roles. I want people to understand there is far more to the NHS than just doctors and nurses.
AHPs focus on prevention as well as treatment, and if we can stop someone from needing intense medical intervention before it is needed, surely that is where the future of our healthcare lies?
But to do that we need great people. If you’ve completed your A-levels and are looking for a profession that offers real purpose, wonderful teamwork and the genuine opportunity to change thousands of lives for the better, look no further. There’s an AHP role for you.
To find out more, take a look at my ground-breaking films and judge for yourself:-
https://hee-vr360.azurewebsites.net/
Marie-Clare is now a leader within the world of virtual reality in health care experiences. She worked alongside virtual reality expert Nick Peres, who is Head of Digital Technologies at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.