The British Association of Prosthetists and Orthotists

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Covid-19 & AHP

The AHP Council have released a letter of support and guidance for AHPs at this time, Here is the letter from Chief AHP Suzanne Rastrick and to view the letter please click below

Supporting AHPs 19 March 2020

“Dear Chief AHPs,

 Please find attached a letter giving guidance and support to Allied Health Professions (AHPs) and AHPs support workers during this unprecedented time. The letter, written collaboratively by the four nations Chief AHP Officers, Council of Deans of Health, Health and Care Professions Council, General Osteopathic Council and the AHP Federation, recognises the need for flexibility in the delivery of services and that this requires a rational approach to the varying practice in such an emergency situation. The expectation of employers, educationalists, professional bodies, and national NHS organisations will be that they are flexible in their approach and that healthcare professional regulators, including the HCPC and GOsC, have already committed to take into account factors relevant to the environment in which the professional is working.

 This can be stressful, and we recognise that you may have concerns about both the professional practicalities and implications of working in such circumstances as well as the physical and emotional wellbeing of the workforce. Our advice for clinicians on coronavirus can be found here https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/

 Thank you to the many AHPs and their support staff across the NHS, wider health and care systems, and public health services who have already made major contributions to the response to COVID-19. We are very proud of the response of the professions in all areas of practice in their initial response to this challenge. We are confident of the commitment, dedication, professionalism and hard work that the AHPs workforce have and will continue to have over the course of this significant pandemic.

 Please share this with the AHP workforce across the systems in which you work.”

 Kind regards

Suzanne

Suzanne Rastrick OBE Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (England)

 

For all other updates on Covid-19 please click here

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Covid-19 & HCPC

Statement from UK Chief Allied Health Professions Officers and the Health and Care Professions Council regarding returnees to the HCPC register to respond to coronavirus demand
 

The coronavirus has united the nation in our efforts to delay the spread of the virus and support vulnerable members of our communities.

Health and social care services will be under increasing pressure as the number of cases increase.

We are proud that many Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) who have recently left the HCPC register have expressed a willingness to come back and help during the national emergency. We thank you for this and are keen to ensure your temporary return is as smooth as possible.

For this reason, we have agreed to automatically re-register all AHPs who have voluntarily left the HCPC register over the last three years onto a temporary COVID-19 Register once the government has passed its emergency legislation.

The HCPC will be contacting former registrants over the coming weeks to explain this process. There will also be more detailed information about HCPC’s policy, guidance to those who choose to return, and FAQs at www.hcpc-uk.org/covid-19.

Being placed on this temporary register does not assume any obligation to offer support as we appreciate not everyone will be able to do so for a variety of reasons.

To everyone who does offer to help in this time of crisis we would like to express our sincere appreciation.

 

Suzanne Rastrick, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, NHS England

Jennifer Keane, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, Department of Health Northern Ireland

Carolyn MacDonald, Chief Allied Health Professions Officer, Scottish Government

Ruth Crowder, Chief Therapies (Allied Health Professions) Adviser, Welsh Government

John Barwick, Chief Executive and Registrar, Health and Care Professions Council

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Notes to editors

The Health and Care Professions Council is an independent regulator set up by the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001. The HCPC keeps a register for 15 different health and care professions and only registers people who meet the standards it sets for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health. The HCPC will take action against professionals who do not meet these standards or who use a protected title illegally.

The HCPC currently regulates 15 health and care professions. Each of these professions has one or more ‘protected titles’. Anyone who uses one of these titles must register with the HCPC. The full list of protected titles can be found here.

Requests for interview should be made through the HCPC Press Office on 07585 992 942 or press@hcpc-uk.org.

For all other updates on Covid-19 please click here

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Naidex

Further to its announcement of postponement last week, the organiser of leading independent living show Naidex, is pleased to be able to announce the new dates of 9th and 10th November 2020. The event will take place at the same venue the NEC Birmingham and all tickets remain valid.

This includes all events co-located with Naidex including Smart Home for Assisted Living, Dementia, Care & Nursing Home, Home Care Expo, Care Tech Live, European Neuro Convention, Medical Imaging Convention, European Oncology Convention and AI&ML Convention.

Like many large event organisers, this has been a complex situation and difficult for everyone involved. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our exhibitors, speakers and partners for their messages of support.

We very much look forward to welcoming you all later in the year.

The Naidex Team

Enquiries@ROARB2B.com or +44 (0) 117 990 2093.

For more information or for tickets click here

 

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#BAPO2020 Update

After careful consideration, we have decided to postpone our 2020 BAPO Conference.

This is not a decision we have come to lightly, but feel it is the right decision for the health & wellbeing of our Exhibitors, Delegates & Presenters.  We are in ongoing communication with all involved and If we have not managed to reach you yet, please know that we will be in touch.

We are working with our venue and event partners to secure new dates and hope to make an announcement next week.

Thank you for all your support and we look forward to welcoming you to #BAPO2020 later in the year

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COVID-19

Linda Hindle – Chief AHP has released the following statement about COVID -19

Hi Everyone

As you are all aware updates in relation to COVID-19 (Coronavirus) are changing rapidly as the spread of the virus develops.  We are constantly updating and adding to the guidance and resources available on the Government web site.  I have outlined below the main pieces of information you may require, I would be grateful if you could promote this to your members.

Information for health and care professionals is collated on this web page – https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/wuhan-novel-coronavirus

Guidance for first responders and others who may have close contact with symptomatic people with potential Covid-19 infection. This can be found here  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-interim-guidance-for-first-responders

 Public facing resources PHE campaign resource centre

Guidance for non-clinical settings https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-guidance-for-non-clinical-settings-and-the-public

Guidance for social care, community care and residential home settings https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-social-or-community-care-and-residential-settings-on-covid-19

The above pages will also link to other pages which may be helpful to some colleagues e.g. relating to education settings, employers and businesses, transport

Best wishes

Linda Hindle
Deputy Chief AHP Officer for England
PHE Lead Allied Health Professional and National Engagement Lead for Public health in Police, Fire and Ambulance Services
Public Health England,

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Scottish AHPs – TURAS

Allied Health Professional (AHP) Professional Portfolio

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) have now launched the AHP Professional Portfolio on the TURAS platform.

The AHP Professional Portfolio is an online resource for AHPs to record and store their evidence for continuing professional development (CPD).  The tool has some fantastic templates for recording reflective practice, feedback and support and supervision.  It is designed to help you develop a portfolio of evidence to support appraisal, planning career development and HCPC audit.

The tool is for all AHPs in Scotland, including the NHS, Social Care, Education, Voluntary and Independent Sectors.

 

Features of the AHP Professional Portfolio:

Personal Profile
Record information about your professional, employment, career, development and achievements.
Your professional profile can be used for a number of purposes

  • to keep your profile up to date and in one place
  • to help develop a CV
  • to have information ready to help complete an application form
  • to demonstrate your achievements to your manager or supervisor
  • to review your profile to identify gaps in your development or areas of interest
  • to help you consider your career aspirations and plan your professional journey

Evidence
This section allows you to keep an unlimited record of all your CPD activities in chronological order, there are also templates for reflective practice and support and supervision and a tool to receive feedback.

Uploaded Documents
A great space to store any supporting documents, photographs, audio files etc which support your CPD activities

Share Packs
An innovative feature is the Share Pack function which allows you to collate and share your evidence from all parts of your portfolio with others using a web link.
Share Packs can be used to:

  • Share evidence in support of your personal development plan (PDP)
  • Share evidence with your lecturer, educator or supervisor to show how you have made progress towards or met the requirements of an educational course
  • Create a CV to assist when you apply for a new role or job or to review your own career

Share Packs are best viewed online to enable any uploaded documents to be easily viewed.

 

You can register for free, if you do not already have a TURAS account, go to https://turasnmportfolio.nes.nhs.scot/

 

For those who already have a TURAS log in you can add the AHP Professional Portfolio application by clicking on the ‘add application’ link on the TURAS Dashboard page and choosing Professional Portfolio

https://turasdashboard.nes.nhs.scot/

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Health Inequalities in England: The Marmot Review 10 years on

Health Inequalities in England: The Marmot Review 10 years on

On the 24th of February Professor Sir Michael Marmot and the Institute of Health Equity published ‘Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 years on’[i]. This article highlights the key messages in the review report.

In the 2010 Marmot Review ‘Fair Society Healthy Lives’[ii]  Marmot shone a light on health inequalities in England highlighting that those living in the poorest neighbourhoods would on average die seven years earlier than people living in the richest areas and not only would they die sooner they would spend more of their lives with disability. The original report provided six recommendations to reduce health inequalities with a strong focus on social justice. The recommendations included giving children the best start in life and acting across all the social determinants of health including education, occupation, income, home and communities.

The 10 years on review shows that over the last decade there has been a deterioration in health and a widening of health inequalities.

Since 2010 life expectancy in England has stalled; this has not happened since at least 1900.  Life expectancy follows the social gradient in that the more deprived the area the shorter the life expectancy; this gradient has become steeper meaning that inequalities in life expectancy have increased and this is most prominent in women.

The gradient in healthy life expectancy is steeper than that of life expectancy which means that people in more deprived areas spend more of their shorter lives in ill-health than those in less deprived areas.

There are regional differences in life expectancy particularly amongst people living in the more deprived areas; so that deprived people in the North East have a poorer life expectancy than deprived people in London.

Marmot highlights that to reduce health inequalities the same actions as stated in the original report are required:

  1. To give every child the best start in life
  2. To enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
  3. To create fair employment and good work for all
  4. To ensure a healthy standard of living for all
  5. To create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities
  6. To strengthen the role and impact of ill-health prevention

The main recommendation from this most recent report is to the Prime Minister, to initiate an ambitious and world-leading health inequalities strategy and lead a Cabinet-level cross-departmental committee charged with its development and implementation.

We see the outcomes of health inequalities in clinical practice and we have a role to play in reducing the impact of health inequalities by being aware of the social determinants and inequalities within the populations we serve and ensuring our services are accessible and relevant to those communities who need them most.

[i] http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on

[ii] http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/fair-society-healthy-lives-the-marmot-review

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Apprentiship Roadshow

Information Events:

Making AHP Apprenticeships happen

What to expect

  • Learn how apprenticeships are being implemented across the Allied Health Professions
  • Update on national procurement of training providers
  • Opportunity to work across the system to support the implementation of apprenticeships
  • Learn how to use apprenticeships to grow your own workforce

 

When, where and HOW

·        York, Double Tree by Hilton 28th January 2020

Email claire.farrelly@hee.nhs.uk

·        Birmingham, The Cube 6th February 2020

Email natasha.pisarski@heartofengland.nhs.uk

·        Taunton Rugby Club Thursday 27th February 2020

Email  Alexander.Websdale@hee.nhs.uk

·        Cambridge, Hilton City Centre 4th March 2020

Email  natasha.pisarski@heartofengland.nhs.uk

·        London,  De Vere West One, 9-10 Portland Place 10th March 2020

Email Devon.Puttick@hee.nhs.uk

 

ALL AHPS* WELCOME AND PLEASE BRING A LOCAL LEAD ON EDUCATION OR APPRENTICESHIPS

*AHPs | Allied Health Professions are: art therapists, dramatherapists, music therapists, chiropodists/podiatrists, dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, orthoptists, osteopaths, prosthetists and orthotists, paramedics, physiotherapists, diagnostic radiographers, therapeutic radiographers, speech and language therapists